


The counselor with the big head

by Somewhatokstories



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human Zim, Drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2020-09-28 11:08:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 37,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20424965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Somewhatokstories/pseuds/Somewhatokstories
Summary: This is an alternative universe where Dib is an adult working at his old Skool as the guidance counselor, and Zim is an actual human child who makes up stories about aliens to help him cope with his problems in life.





	1. The First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> I’m trying to go for a very dramatic story here, so a few characteristics of Dib and Zim may be change but I’m still trying to keep what makes these characters them.
> 
> So expect a lot of screaming from Zim, even though he’s a human is this story he’s still the same maniac we all love.

The young boy silently stood before the large wooden door, in the center of the door was a small golden sign that reads out ‘Guidance Counselor’ the golden sign was old and slightly dirty with an unexplainable stain that the young boy just tried to ignore.

“This place is disgusting.” Zim stated in a low groan, he always hated this Skool for several reasons but the main was at just how dirty everything was.

It was moments like this that made the young boy grateful that he would always wear his black gloves, the last thing Zim needed was to catch any diseases from this disgusting skool.

He loudly groaned in frustration as he contemplated just turning right around and heading back to his class, but the child knew that this would only lead to even more problems shortly. And the last thing he needed right now was getting questioned by his horrifying demon of a teacher Ms. Bitters on why he was back so early.

And with that bit of ‘helpful’ knowledge still fresh in his head the boy decided to just accept his fate, with a slight hint of hesitation, he turned the door’s handle and pushed it open, the young boy hadn't even bothered on knocking because it was known that he was coming already.

As the annoyed boy stepped into the room he was instantly hit with just how small the office was in comparison to the rest of the Skool’s interior, but despite the rather pathetic size of the room it was at least a bit cleaner than the rest of the building.

The walls were decorated with several large colorful posters that seemed completely out of place in comparison to the dull cream color of the walls.

The furniture was sturdy and well kept with even a noticeable shine to them, almost as if they had just been recently varnished only a few moments ago before he had entered the room.

While the child was a bit taken aback by the state of the office, he was at least grateful that he didn’t have to spend a long time stuck in a cramped dirty room while he was forced to talk.

The boy’s attention was so focused on subtle details of the room that he completed missed the man sitting right in front of the desk reading what appeared to be several different documents.

From what Zim was able to see on his desk he could only guess that the man was a bit of a slob as he noticed several stacks of paper that littered the desk along with a few open books and his slightly stained coffee mug.

But the one detail that seemed to catch Zim’s glimpse was a small golden nameplate that was located to the left edge of the desk, and carved into the nameplate was the name “Dib Membrane” something about that name seemed to remind Zim of someone but he just couldn’t remember it at that moment.

His focus then shifted from the golden nameplate over towards the adult male who was still sitting at his cluttered desk, at this point he still hadn’t even noticed the boy’s presence, which Zim didn’t mind as he was used to that at this point.

The male was wearing a light blue buttoned-up shirt with a long plain black tie that honestly seemed a bit too long, his hair was black and short with a rather strange scythe-like spike of hair that was flipped over to his back.

Overall the man just looked like an average person that you wouldn’t notice.

After several more seconds had passed the obvious guidance counselor finally lifted his gaze from his document only to be shocked by the young boy standing there silent glaring at the adult.

“Oh, Zim, I didn’t even hear you there.” the adult quickly stated in a calm and friendly tone as he put away several of the documents that he was reading.

Zim just stood there eyeing the adult male as he tried to study his tone and expression for any signs of an alternative motive in the man, but despite Zim’s best attempts he just couldn’t seem to find anything other than maybe a look of discomfort in the adult’s face.

“Why don’t you take a seat.” Dib suggested to the boy as his hand slowly gestured towards the chair in front of his desk.

Zim still didn’t speak a single word at this gesture, he just continued to silently stare daggers at the adult male for a few more moments, until the young boy decided to take the man up on his offer and take the offered seat.

This action seemed to give the male counselor a slight bit of relief as he was honestly afraid that Zim might just up and leave the room altogether, and though there was still a high chance that the boy might run out of the room, it was still a good sign that Zim at least listened to his offer.

Zim slightly shifted in his seat, Zim quietly groaned in annoyance as he tried to find a somewhat comfortable position for him to sit in, but once Zim had managed to find a comfortable position in the chair, he leaned back and waited for this “talk” to start.

“Aren’t you going to start speaking now?” the impatient child quickly spoke up as the silence was starting to irritate him greatly.

“Yes, I was just waiting until you were comfortable.” Dib explained calmly as he pulled out a notepad and pen from his desk drawer, he intended on writing down a few small notes throughout their talk.

Zim seemed to be slightly annoyed by this response. “Well I’m ready now, so can we start with this useless talk already.” he said with a huff.

“Yes of course.” the male counselor stated as he opened up his notepad onto a clean page.

“So would you care to tell me how you’re feeling today?”

The boy’s eyes quickly shot at the adult male as he felt his once blank expression turned to one of pure hostility as he slightly tensed up in his seat. “No!”

Zim instantly shot up from his seat in his rage, this action made Dib visibly panic as he was afraid that the now angry child would leave the room.

Dib definitely couldn’t have that happening, he hadn’t even managed to get a full conversation with the boy and now he was already furious with him, he knew that this wasn’t going to be easy, quite the contrary, he had heard that Zim was having a few problems with some of his teachers and classmates since the start of the school year a few weeks ago, and this even went back to last year.

He heard that Zim was loud and disruptive in most of his classes but he didn’t expect the child to be this aggressive from a seemingly innocent question.

As Dib carefully watched Zim he had noticed that the child wasn’t making any attempt to run away, in fact, he seemed to be in a much calmer state, his once sharp rage-filled glare was now gone and replaced with a more relaxed expression.

It seems that Zim had realized that he had maybe been a bit too aggressive towards the counselor and he seemed to be a bit remorseful.

And with saying anything else Zim silently sat back down in his seat.

“Zim is fine, I don’t need any counseling.” he quickly spoke in a defensive tone which the adult male could tell was due to some insecurity of needing a counselor.

“Z-Zim you know that there's no shame in needing to talk to someone once in a while.” the man explained in an understanding tone as he hoped Zim would understand. “Lots of people go to counseling, even a lot of adults as well.”

This statement seemed to help slightly put Zim at ease, but Dib could still clearly tell that this whole situation was still eating away at the young boy that much was easy to tell.

But this fact just made his job a lot more challenging.

At first, Dib would have thought that this particular meeting with Zim would have gone in a similar direction to all of his previous talks with all the other students before.

He was told in advance what to expect from Zim but he still wasn’t anywhere close enough to understand just what was going on in the young boy’s mind.

Almost everything about Zim was the exact opposite of what Dib would usually face when talking to a child of his age, his tone, his expression, hell even his clothes were the opposite of what Dib would expect from an average ten-year-old.

There was never this much hostility towards him before, even with the most problematic of students.

But that was when Dib had an idea.

“How about we make a little deal.” Zim looked at him in confusion as he wondered at just what the adult was trying to pull. “What kind of deal?” the boy demanded to know as he crossed his arms over his chest in an attempt to look slightly more menacing to the adult.

“Nothing much, all you need to do is just talk with me until our meeting is over and if you still feel like you don’t need any counseling than you’re free to leave.” it sounded like a great deal to the young boy as he could always just lie regardless of what he thought, and there was no way the adult would ever be able to tell if Zim was lying in the first place.

After a few moments of being stuck in his deep thought, Zim reluctantly spoke up again. “Very well, Zim will take you up on your offer.” After that, the young boy stretched out his hand towards the counselor as he intended on having them both handshake on this deal.

The man was a little taken aback by this action, he took this whole thing very seriously, and seeing this kind of action from someone of Zim’s age was honestly kind of endearing.

Dib smiled and gently shook Zim’s hand in agreement, now that they had both calmed down they could finally begin to have a real conversation.

One quick look at Dib’s watch revealed that ten minutes had already passed only giving the adult twenty minutes to talk with Zim.

And as he looked at Zim who was still sitting in his seat he knew that this was going to be a very interesting talk.


	2. A Series Of Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dib tries to start a conversation with Zim, but almost every attempt fails miserably so Dib decides to let Zim ask the questions for a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter I'm trying to add a few more details about Dib's current home life and a few of his characteristics from the show, hopeful I did a decent job with that.

Dib looked over towards Zim who was currently staring outside the window on the left side of the small office, his light purple eyes were completely fixated on the cloudy grey sky.

The child looked like he was in his little world, it was this action that reminded Dib of what he used to do when he was around Zim’s age, he would often just get lost in his head whenever he was bored or when he just wanted to ignore the world around him.

This was a memory that brought a slight smile to the man’s face as he tried to wonder just what Zim was thinking about.

But that was when Dib started to notice a few strange things about the boy’s appearance, the first thing that caught the counselor's attention was the dark pink hoodie that almost seemed a few sizes too big for him, the sleeves were rolled up just enough to reveal his hands.

The next thing was, of course, his gloves, sure he had noticed them the second he realized that Zim had entered the room but now that Dib was able to fully focus on Zim he could now realize just how strange it was.

Based on how the light reflected off of the materials of the gloves Dib could only guess that they were maybe made out of some kind of rubber, they were something similar to what his dad would often wear.

It was so strange to see that type of clothing on someone of Zim’s age, but for now, Dib would have to look past that and focus on the rest of the meeting, maybe he could ask him about the gloves later.

And once he got Zim’s attention Dib began to start the meeting once again, hopefully now things would go a little more smoothly.

“So Zim, I heard from a few of your teachers that you’ve been having a few behavioral issues in your classes for the past few weeks.” It seemed like a normal question to ask Zim about at first, but once Dib realized what he had just said he instantly knew that he had messed up.

He wasn’t trying to provoke any kind of negative reaction from the boy of course, but it still seemed like Zim almost thought that so Dib thought of maybe trying to change the subject.

But before Dib could even utter a single word he was quickly cut off by the cold harsh tone of Zim’s voice.

“And just where exactly did you hear that from?” Dib’s eyes widened in shock, oh god he wasn’t supposed to mention anything about hearing anything about his behavior, and he wasn’t supposed to even suggest that he heard it from another staff member.

Dib was at a complete loss for words, it was like the adult had his vocal cord violently ripped out from his throat by a wild animal, he just couldn’t say anything at that moment, especially not with Zim’s cold eyes glaring daggers at him.

“Well, Dib-stink!” Zim angrily yelled out which caused Dib to jump in surprise by the loud volume of Zim’s voice.

“I-I don’t think it’s import where I heard it from, what matters is-”

“Did you hear it from Mr. Elliot?” Zim quickly interrupted in a rage-filled tone.

“... Um, well.” Dib was at a loss for words, he couldn’t just straight-up lie to the boy he would see through it instantly, well that and Dib was just dreadful at lying.

But unfortunately for the counselor, his silence just gave Zim the answer that he was looking for.

With that answer came an even more irritated Zim in response.

Now Zim was tightly gripping onto the fabric of his jeans as his rage began to take him over. “That filthy pathetic bag of pig meat!” The now furious child loudly yelled out, it took everything in him to not just storm out of the room right there and slap that overjoyed blonde-haired moron in the face.

Zim had to constrain himself as he knew that if he did that then there would be a huge series of consequences waiting for him to face in the long term, so for now, he would have to get his much-needed revenge later.

“This is why Zim detest all of the simple-minded teachers in this pathetic skool.” Dib felt like such an idiot, now that he had just caused Zim to get even more agitated than before.

He had to try and say something that might calm the boy down, even if it was only just a bit.

“Look, Zim, they only brought up this issue because they care about you, all teachers care about the wellbeing of their students.” Zim’s only response to that statement was a quick roll of the eyes.

Zim just looked at Dib straight in the eyes before he spoke once again “Even Ms. Bitters.”

For a split second, it almost seemed like Dib was about to say yes to that question, but it appears that even he could bring himself to say something like that about that old hag.

“Well, okay fine maybe not her particularly, but I know for a fact that Mr. Elliot and a lot of other teachers do care.” It didn’t look like Zim believed what Dib had just said, not even for a single second, but expecting him to would be asking too much.

“Well I wish that they didn’t care, it’s none of their business at how Zim is feeling, this is why Zim slightly respects that old hag Ms. Bitters far more than the rest of you meat sacks.” he quietly stated as he slouched back in his chair.

“She may be an awful old beast demon but at least she doesn't stick her nose in Zim’s business!” That last statement was a jab at Dib and his consistent questions about the boy’s feelings, and honestly, he wished that things would get better real quick.

Dib looked at his watch revealing that he now only had fifteen minutes left with this meeting, that was too little of time and he had barely even managed to get an actual response from Zim that wasn’t sarcastic or aggressive.

Dib always knew that he wasn’t an amazing guidance counselor, but he didn’t think that he was this bad.

Honestly, he was approaching this in the wrong way.

It was obvious what the problem was, so obvious that the man had honestly felt a little bit embarrassed with himself for not realizing it much sooner.

He couldn’t expect Zim to open up and talk about his feelings to a stranger who he had just met that day, this was asking too much from the boy.

Zim just needed to be a bit more comfortable with talking to Dib, it was already clear from the boy’s posture that he was both uncomfortable and nervous even if he tried his best to hide this from the adult, it was still clear as day that he was nervous.

So Dib was going to try and give Zim a chance to know him before he would try to ask the young boy any kind of difficult or personal question.

“Zim what if maybe for a few minutes, you can ask the questions to me instead.” Zim seemed completely surprised at this sudden offer.

“I can ask you anything, anything at all?” Zim had to admit he was a bit curious at what information he could get out of the man, maybe he could get some leverage on another student or even a teacher if he worded his words right.

“Well you can ask me whatever you want and I can try to answer with the best of my ability.”

“However there may be some questions that are too personal and that I won’t be comfortable answering.”

“Okay, Dib-stink.” Well, it certainly seemed like that little nickname was staying, but hey Dib’s been called worse by other people so for know he would just ignore this nickname for now.

“Zim’s first question is, why is your head so big?” of course that was the first thing he’d ask, why Dib wasn’t expecting this was honestly just a mystery.

“Was it a mad science experiment gone wrong or were you just unfortunate enough to be born with a freakishly large head.” By this point, Zim was glowing with joy as he described his few theories on why Dib’s head was exactly that size.

Dib sighed as he tried to think of anything to say. “Well… I guess I was just born like that.” Dib responded in a dry tone which seemed to be good enough for Zim as he soon started to break out into a small chuckle.

But despite the little irritation that came from Zim’s question Dib was glad to see that this insult on his supposedly “large” head was at least making the boy a bit more relaxed, he could tell this by Zim’s slightly more relaxed posture as he wasn’t crossing his arms or slouching in his seat.

Even his expression seemed a bit more lively, well lively probably wasn’t the best term, he was calmer than before at least.

And once Zim’s laughter had died down he was now ready to ask his next question.

“You’re last name’s Membrane correct?”

“That’s my last name, yes.” Zim seemed very shocked by this answer, to such an extent that he almost forgot what he was going to ask.

But once Zim had fully processed the man’s answer he quickly spoke up again. “Is your father Professor Membrane by any chance?” This seemed like an ordinary question that Dib had heard many times before from hundreds of people throughout his life.

“Why do you ask, are you interested in science?” Dib hoped that maybe this question would distract Zim long enough so that they could move on to another topic because Dib didn’t want to talk about his father.

“No, Zim was just making an observation is all, is he your father though?” Unfogently for Dib it seemed like he wouldn’t be able to avoid this topic, and so with that, he reluctantly answered Zim’s question

“Yes, he’s my father.”

Zim slightly shifted in his seat upon heading this answer. “I see, that's slightly interesting.”

“Interesting how?”

“Well if your father is a successful scientist, then why are you working here of all places?” Dib always hated when people would ask him about this, and sure he couldn’t blame them for wondering because even to him it made no sense.

If his father was a brilliant scientist known for his amazing experiments that helped in benefiting thousands of people’s lives, then why wouldn’t you want to work in a similar field.

Hell, it made even less because Dib was always known for being into science when he was younger, sure it was mostly paranormal science but it was still science nonetheless, and so why Dib didn’t decide to work with his father was always seen a strange choice for him to make.

“Shouldn’t you be working in some kind lad then?”

“I.. I don’t think so I mean just wanted to do something that wasn’t science.” It seemed that even Zim could tell that this certain topic was bothering the man.

“Very well, Zim has another question.” Dib was very thankful that they were now moving to another topic, he just hoped that Zim wouldn’t ask any other questions about his family or career.

It took a few moments for Zim to think of a question to ask Dib, it was either because he couldn’t think of anything or that maybe he was trying to avoid any questions that would make the man uncomfortable. So Zim took his time and picked his question very carefully.

And after a few more moments of thinking Zim finally began to ask his question. “What kind of interest do you have?” Well, that was an unexpected question, but it was a question that Dib appreciated as it was one that was simple and easy to answer.

“Well, I guess I could say any kind of film or book that involves paranormal.”

This answer interested the young boy. “Zim didn’t think that a counselor would be interested in something so… nonsensical.” Zim didn’t think that an adult would be interested in something so childish like ghosts and monsters, something that couldn’t exist outside of a child’s book

But he couldn't judge the man when he was interested in certain things that most people wouldn’t consider “normal” behavior for someone of his age, so the least Zim could do was respect the man’s interest even if they were bizarre.

So Zim quickly added. “But there are worse things to be interested in I suppose.” Dib smiled in response to the young boy’s sudden stance on his interest.

“Thanks, Zim, I know that it might be strange for someone of my age to be interested in that type of topic, but it makes me happy.”

Dib looked down on his watch, by now over thirty minutes had passed and now the meeting was over which disappointed him greatly as he wanted to ask Zim at least one question before he would have to leave.

But the time was up and he would just have to hope that Zim would agree to continue with these talks.

“Well Zim it looks like that’s all the time we have left for today.” he announced to the boy who seemed a bit caught off guard by this knowledge but he quickly realized what this meant.

“Finally, does this mean Zim is free to go?”

“Yes Zim you're free to go.” and once he heard this the boy jumped off of his seat and instantly made his way over towards the door.

But just before Zim could leave the room he was instantly stopped in his tracks once he heard the panicked voice of the counselor along with the sound of him quickly sitting from his seat, Zim turned around to see that Dib was now standing up.

“Wait, Zim, we still have our deal remember.” Oh right, that dreaded deal that they both shock on, Zim had completely forgotten about that but now that the man had mentioned it Zim felt a little embarrassed that he could have forgotten something so important.

“Yes, and your point is.” Zim tried to hide his embarrassment by trying to sound as intimidating as he possibly could.

“Well, I still need to hear if you would like to continue our talks in the future.” Based on the tone of his voice Zim could tell that the man wanted him to say yes to his answer, but Zim honestly didn’t know an answer to the man’s question.

He could easily say no and leave to never return, he wouldn’t have to the counselor ever again and he wouldn’t have to talk about his personal life and the secrets that he would want to keep hidden, he would never have to face any of these possibilities, all he needed to do was just no.

That was all Zim needed to do.

But despite that tempting offer, Zim’s mind still kept on thinking about what might happen if he said yes.

If he answered yes then he would have someone to insult and mock someone to ask questions to and more importantly, someone to talk to. That was what made Zim consider his options because despite how much the child would claim how he hated talking to people deep down Zim somewhat liked the talk even with the few annoyances that he had.

So after a long moment of deep thought, Zim finally answered with a reluctantly. “Yes.”  
Yet even though Dib was stunned by this unexpected answer he was pleased with his answer nonetheless.

“That’s great, I’m really glad that you-” But then.

“Don’t look too deep into this Dib-stink, Zim is only agreeing to continue with these “talks” because I still have many questions left.” While this was probably the main reason why Zim agreed to continue meeting with the man Dib was still happy regardless.

“So when will our next meeting begin?” there was a slight hint of excitement in Zim’s voice which made Dib smile in response.

“Our next meeting will take place tomorrow at the same time, how does that sound?”

“That’s acceptable I suppose, Zim will see you then Dib-stink.” And with that said and done Zim left the room.

Once he was gone Dib instantly let out an exhausted sigh, that was probably the most exciting and exhausting conversation he had ever had in his entire life, hell it was even more stressful than dealing with Gaz when she was angry.

And yet Dib couldn’t wait for their next talk, even though it would take him some time to ask Zim the questions that he wanted, Dib knew that he would eventually get there.

He always does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a really fun one to write, I'm really glad to see so much interaction with this fic so far and I really hope that I can continue to keep people invested in this story because I have a lot more ideas.
> 
> And if anyone has any kind of critiques then please don't be afraid to say them.
> 
> anyway I hope everyone enjoys the chapter and thanks for reading.


	3. Back Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter just shows us what Dib's daily life is like after work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter only focuses on Dib as he tries to get through the rest of his day

Once this rather mundane skool day had ended and all of the students had gone home for the day, Dib was now tasked with making his way back home so he could begin to prepare dinner for himself and maybe his younger sister Gaz.

Hopefully, Gaz would probably be home by now since her shift would usually end around the same time he did, but there was a chance that today was one of those days when Gaz would choose to spend the night at a friend’s house.

This fact definitely wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility, when Gaz was much younger she would always do whatever she could to avoid her brother at every possible moment, that wasn’t something out there or character for the young girl to do so Dib honestly wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.

Gaz worked as a cashier as some weird retro game store Dib couldn’t quite remember the name of the place but he remembered the mascot being some kind of space robot or something similar that. At this store, Gaz would usually just sit at the front desk and point any customers in the direction of whatever product they needed.

The young girl was so ridiculously good at it which was no surprise to Dib as he already knew from experience that Gaz had a vast amount of knowledge about every single video game and console that was ever released, hell her expansive knowledge of the topic even went back to the 1970s.

In short, Gaz knew her games.

Dib let out a tired sigh as he looked down at his watch once again, it was now around 5:30 Gaz would be off by now, so right now the only thing that Dib could do was wait until he arrived home.

He would get his answer there.

As Dib stepped out from the skool’s stuffy interior and out to the large empty staff parking lot he could feel the cold air hit his exposed skin that wasn’t protected by the soft warm fabric of his scarf and coat.

Sometimes Dib really hated the cold days that always seemed to come at the absolute worst of times, and he only knew that it would only get worse as the months move forward, but right now the only thing that Dib should focus on was getting home safely.

So without missing a single beat Dib carefully climbed into the warm interior of his car and closed the door completely cutting off the bitter harsh air from the outside, as he looked out from his fogged up car window Dib could see that it was soon going to rain, the dark grey clouds gave this fact away.

Dib then started the engine and carefully drove out of the empty car park and onto the main road that leads towards his home, and as the now tired man made his way home he just hoped that it wouldn’t rain too hard.  
_______________________

After a few minutes of driving had passed the now exhausted guidance counselor had finally arrived home.

Once he parked his car in the driveway Dib quickly exited the car as he just wanted nothing more than to just get into his house and sit down for at least a few minutes.

Dib practically ran over towards the front door of the house before he pulled his keys out of his coat pocket and unlocked the door, and once the man had seen the familiar interior of his childhood home he instantly felt a great scene of comfort and joy.

And wasting no time Dib quickly made his way into his home only stopping for a brief second to make sure that his car was locked and to close the front door.

Now Dib could finally just sit back for a few moments before he would start the rest of his usual daily routine.

The adult then effortlessly removed his scarf and coat, and sloppily threw the two items of clothing onto an old coat rack near the front door, the man then made his over towards the living room where he made himself comfortable on the fairly spacious couch.

There wasn’t a single item out of order, everything in the room was in the same state that Dib had left it in the previous night.

The living room was completely void of any signs of life and only with the sounds of the harsh rainfall to help break the unnerving silence that Dib had grown to deeply hate throughout his life.

He looked around the rest of the room only to find that there were no signs of Gaz being home yet, there weren’t any coats half-heartedly thrown to the floor or any kind of sugary snacks left on the table or kitchen counters.

“Gaz, you here?” Dib called out to no response from his younger sister.

It looks like Dib would have the house all to himself tonight, Gaz had probably decided to spend the rest of her day with a few friends and Dad, well that one was obvious.

Dib knew that his father was definitely over at his lab working on some renowned world-saving project with his large number of staff members, he might get a call from him later on that night but Dib highly doubted that.

But oh well, the man wasn’t that upset with the prospect of being home alone for the night and probably the early morning, that at least gave him some much needed time to think to himself about what he was going to do tomorrow for the next meeting with Zim.

He was going to need some time to think of questions to ask the boy, though the day would most likely go the same way as today’s meeting where Dib was barely even able to get a single question in, he would still at least attempt.

As Dib sat there on the large spacious couch he wondered to himself at exactly what Zim would ask him in their next talk, the man was genuinely curious at what the young child could think to ask him next.

Would he just ask more personal questions about his interests or family? or would he just ask a few more questions about his supposedly “big” head, it was a mystery and unfortunately Dib would just have to wait until tomorrow afternoon until he would know the answer to his questions.

For now, Dib should just focus on what he should make for his dinner, that should be the only thing to occupy his mind at that point.

And so with this new thought fresh in his mind Dib then proceeded to sluggishly lift himself off the couch and meander his way over towards the darkly lit kitchen.

With a quick flick of the light switch blasted the bright light bulbs that cut through the black darkness that once occupied that section of the house, now Dib could fully see where he was going and what he needed to do.

First off he needed to figure out just what he should make since he was the only one there at the moment so he needed to make something that wouldn’t have a large portion of food for him to deal with and that didn’t take much effort to make as Dib didn’t have the patience nor the energy to make a “fancy” meal, especially when he was the only one there.

But Dib wasn’t very fond of that idea and he didn’t want to spend that much time or energy on making a suitable enough meal, but the man he didn’t want to just toss some vaguely edible food into the oven and call it a day. And he didn’t want to call any take out places that would be even worse

That was an extremely bad habit that Dib had fought very hard to break out of when he was younger, and he wasn’t going to fall right back into that awful trend.

Instead, Dib decided that he would just cook something simple like maybe some pasta, yeah that sounded simple enough for him to pull off right?.

Yeah of course it was.  
_______________________

Dib spent a good few minutes working away in the kitchen as he cooked his dinner, so far everything was going significantly easier than the adult had first expected.

Right now everything was going perfectly fine, the pasta was left to slowly boil in a pot on the back oven stove while Dib mainly focused his attention on the small amount of sauce that he was preparing for the pasta once it was finished cooking.

The kitchen was brightly lit up and now filled with the rather distinctive smell of several different herbs that Dib had used for the sauce, as he continued to stir and mix the many different ingredients into the pasta sauce.

As he added the last few remaining ingredients into the tomato sauce Dib could faintly hear the subtle hum of the TV, he had turned it on a few minutes after he first started cooking the pasta.

And while the man wasn’t even paying any real attention to the program that was playing in the background, he at least heard the constant white noise that the TV had provided him.

For some strange reason it always seemed to help Dib to relax, he was honestly clueless in how this constant background noise always seemed to relax him, maybe it was just how his mind worked, maybe he just needed something like that to calm his nerves.

At first glance, it did seem like that and nothing else, but in reality, the fact that Dib would often need this constant background noise was mainly because it gave the eerily empty house a strange sense of life, and it wasn’t just his house Dib needed to this same task at almost everywhere he went.

That was why the man so desperately needed it calm his endless nerves because it almost made it seem like there was someone else there in the room with Dib to keep him company, this was a weird habit that the man had picked up one when he was in his late teenage years after he had tried to change from what he used to be.

When Dib first started doing this he hadn’t even so much as noticed it for the first few months, the man had only noticed this trend once Gaz had pointed it out, of course, once this happened Dib used a whole series of excuses to avoid any more strange looks from his sister, and thankfully for him they worked.

And from that point onwards Dib had always made sure to never do this around Gaz too often as to not make her suspicious of his behavior once again.

As the TV show continued to play in the background Dib was almost finished with preparing his meal, now the only thing that he needed to do now just got a bowl.

But before the man could even proceed with doing that final task he heard a very familiar-sounding theme song playing in the distance of the living room.

Once he was fully aware of what this theme was from Dib's stomach painful twisted and contorted as he remembered the program that the song belonged to.

The TV show that was playing right there in front of Dib was his old childhood show Mysterious Mysteries.

Dib just stood there in silence as he silently watched his once-favorite childhood show.

Christ, it was a mystery how this show had stayed on the network for so long, most people would have expected a show like this to be canceled after a season or two, but not this show for some strange reason it just kept on coming back after every year.

Almost nothing about the show had changed even from when Dib uses to watch it, the music was the same the camera angles are cinematography was practically identical to the previous seasons, hell they even had the same host after all these years, of course, he looked a little older but he was still generally the same.

Fuck just looking at this show again instantly made Dib’s skin crawl in a great amount of discomfort, it was almost like instead of him looking at the familiar TV show he was watching some kind of demented nut film, it honestly made him feel that sick.

Oh god, he could almost see himself when he was young, he could almost picture the image of him as a child sitting on the floor as he excitedly watched the show taking in every single ridiculous alien and ghost story that he heard.

Dib still can’t believe that at one point in his life he had used to listen to this garbage, how could he have been so… stupid, how could he not see all of these stories as they were, just a bunch of stories that were made to scare children or to sell a load of crap to a bunch of fools who were too narcissistic to listen to anyone else.

Just listening to this show was already difficult enough for Dib to go through but remembering all of the awful things that he had both done and said was even more tortuous in comparison.

And before Dib could even be reminded of any other shameful childhood memories he swiftly snatched up the nearby remote control of the TV and changed the channel, he didn’t even look to see which one had turned too, as long as it wasn’t Mysterious Mysteries Dib couldn’t care less.

Unfortunately for the stressful man he wasn’t even given a single second to fully process his inner thoughts before his ears were assaulted by the loud cheerful screams of young children.

Dib almost fell back in pure shock from the sudden and unexpected burst of volume from the large screen TV.

As the extremely loud advertisement continued to play Dib heard the loud chanting of the familiar name of a certain restaurant that he had grown to greatly despise, that restaurant was known as Bloaty's Pizza Hog a disgusting grease pit of an establishment.

With food that was coated in a thick layer of fat and grease along with the demented and deformed animatronic characters that roamed the whole restaurant.

Dib decided that he was fed up with seeing the advert that generally seemed to assault almost all of the man’s senses and turned the TV off turning the once colorful screen to a pitch-black as the image was cut off.

The room soon fell into silence as Dib was only left with his inner thoughts, as Dib looked down at his watch he noticed that it was now 10:50 pm which surprised the man as he hadn’t even realized that it was anywhere even near that late.  
He needed to get ready for bed soon because Dib really couldn’t afford to stay up too late and to oversleep.

Dip practically threw himself up off the couch as he made his way back over towards the kitchen, if he was going to head straight to bed at that moment then he needed to at least do something with the food that he had just cooked, if he wasn’t able to eat it at that moment then he could just store the small portion of food away for later.

So Dib grabbed a small plastic container from one of the bottom cabinets where he then proceeded to scoop the pasta into the container and then into the fridge where he could maybe eat it tomorrow, well only if Dib didn’t completely forget it altogether.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter I'm trying to hint towards a few things now so I can bring them up in a later chapter, so don't worry both Gaz and Professor Membrane will make a full appearance later on in the story.
> 
> Thanks for reading so far and I hope you all enjoy the story so far.


	4. Hobbies And Intrests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dib learns a few things about Zim that explains why he is so distrustful of others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a bit longer then the others but I really enjoyed writing this chapter.

It was now halfway through the skool day and both Dib and Zim were having a rather strange debate on Dib’s head of all things, Dib had tried to ask the child about how his day was going so far, and that one simple question eventually turned into a full-depth discussion on the size of the guidance counselor’s head.

While Dib was a little bit upset at the fact that Zim was still trying to avoid most of his questions about his well being, despite that the man was at least relieved that the meeting was going particularly well especially compared to how things were going the previous day before.

Right now the two of them are currently going back and forth with this ridiculous yet strangely amusing debate.

“Someone can’t have a head of that size, it has to be some kind of experiment.” It sounds like the child was still trying to figure out why the man’s head was that size and he was convinced that he would eventually find the answer that he was looking for.

But it seemed like he wasn’t going to get the answer that he wanted since Dib kept on denying every single theory that the boy brought up, one after another until all of his theories were eventually shot down by a tired yet calm guidance counselor.

“Believe me, it’s not.” Dib quickly responded in his usual deadpan manner which only seemed to encourage Zim to go further with his mad yet fairly amusing claims.

“Hmm, you can claim ignorance all you want Dib-stink but the mighty ZIM! will prove that you are a mad science experiment gone wrong.” By this point, Zim stood up from his seat and proudly announced to the whole world and anyone else who would listen.

The slightly amused counselor laughed to himself as he tried to think of a witty comeback to Zim’s outrageous claims, but it seemed like he was out of material as the man couldn’t think of any comeback.

It seemed like Zim took this silence as an admission of his claims and in response, the young boy loudly laughed in victory as his theories had been proven correct.

“YES VICTORY FOR ZIM!” This loud victory screech brought Dib back to reality as now he could see Zim clenching his fist and loudly professing his victory with a glee filled look in his eyes.

Not wanting to dampen Zim’s already positive mood Dib chose to agree with him for now at least.

“Yes victory for you Zim, you got me.” Dib’s tone was his usual deadpan with a slight hint of amusement that Zim was able to hear passed the man’s dry wit.

It seems like having his theories proven was only a short victory as after a few seconds had passed Zim found himself with nothing else to say, most of his comments and thoughts mainly resolved around the man’s abnormally large head.

But now that Dib had admitted to it there was now no point to bring it up again, sure Zim could always just use his large head as an insult, but that joke was beginning to get old and repetitive at that point.

That was when Zim began to wonder if the man only agreed with his claims because he knew that it would conclude with the insults ceasing.

If that was the man’s intentions then Zim had to admit that maybe the counselor wasn’t as big of an idiot as the rest of the miserable piles of meat that populated this dirty disease-ridden skool.

Dib looked down at his watch to see that this meeting was about half way over and he had about twenty minutes left to talk with Zim before he would have to leave for his next class.

That was when Dib decided that this was his perfect opportunity to ask Zim a few questions that would hopefully give the curious guidance counselor some much-needed information about the boy’s current situation.

“Zim, do you mind if I ask you a question?” Dib calmly asked as he pulled out his notebook from his desk drawer which caused Zim to suspect that the adult was trying something.

Zim didn’t like what the man was asking of him, throughout this whole meeting and the previous one that happened yesterday the mindful boy was trying his absolute best to avoid answering any of the questions that the man asked by constantly changing the subject or by just avoiding the topic altogether by refusing to speak until he decided to move on.

But now it seemed like these two strategies weren’t going to be quite as effective as Zim had first thought, Zim knew that it was a mistake to come back here, he should have just left once the first meet was over and then never come back again. If he had just done that simple action then Zim wouldn’t even be in this situation in the first place.

The boy suspiciously looked at the man for a brief moment before he sighed to himself and responded. “I suppose, what do you want to ask Zim?”

For a brief moment Dib thought of just how he should exactly word his question, the last thing that he needed right now was somehow giving Zim the wrong message or god forbid accidentally insulting him, he needed to be very careful to avoid that outcome at all costs. so Dib thought long and hard about it before he eventually asked the boy.

His one relaxed expression turned to one that was more serious in comparison to how he looked when the meeting had first started.

“Can you tell me what’s been bothering you?” Dib was very aware of what he was doing, he knew that there was a large chance that the boy would just refuse to answer the question just like the previous day before.

But he needed to at least attempt, because if he was able to get an answer out of the small child then he would be able to help him faster.

“No.” He answered in a cold tone of voice and swiftly turned his head away from the gaze of the guidance counselor and over towards the small window on the office wall.

“Zim I know that it’s hard to talk about it, but you need to-”

“Zim doesn’t ‘need’ to do anything you wretched stink pile!”

The counselor let out a sigh in defeat, that wasn’t exactly the response that he had wanted from the boy, so much for the seemingly good start that they had, but Dib needed to be more understanding towards the boy. He was going through a rough time at the moment and most likely didn’t want to willingly provide the adult any kind of information on it.

But that unwillingness to talk about it only made Dib even more concerned about Zim’s well being, but for now, he just needed to be patient with Zim, soon enough he’ll open up.

“Alright, let’s just forget that I asked that, we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” He tried to reassure Zim and hopefully catch his attention without much success, unfortunately. Zim was still looking out through the window, ignoring any attempt from the man to get a response from him.

“Zim, do you mind if I could at least ask another question instead?” Even though Zim was still upset from the man’s previous question he at least turned his gaze from the window and back over to the counselor.

Based entirely off of Zim’s facial expression it looked like he was deeply conflicted by this request, almost as if he was debating whether or not he should allow the man to ask another question.

Zim thought about this decision carefully in his mind until he reached two decisions, if he allowed Dib-stink to ask another question then it might lead to a rather uncomfortable situation that the young boy wanted to avoid at all cost.

However, if he refused to let the man ask his question then it would cause even more suspicion towards him.

And that's why Zim reluctantly agreed to the man’s request. “Fine, Zim will allow it.”

Dib smiled. “Okay well, I was wondering, what kind of interest do you have?” Zim seemed shocked by this sudden and unexpected change in the topic, while yeah the child did appreciate the fact that Dib was decent enough to move on from the previous topic without any hesitation. But the boy was still conscious of what the counselor was planning.

“Why do you want to know that?” This question had just left the young boy confused and in search of an answer on why the man would even bother to ask him about his interest, of all things why his interests.

It wasn’t even like the man really cared, so why would he even bother asking him in the first place?

That was when Zim started to wonder just what the big-headed counselor was up too, just what was that freakishly large-headed freak planning on? The now alerted young boy was frantically trying to figure out exactly what the man would gain from any information on his interest, but Zim couldn’t find anything that made even the slightest bit of sense.

He’s planning something, he’s planning something.

Zim was now quickly growing frustrated at himself for still not being able to figure it out, god he always hated not knowing the intentions of others, especially adults he always despised their smug look of satisfaction and condescension when things were going in their favor.

That’s why Zim knew if he looked long enough then he’d see that expression in the man’s face, that fucking self-satisfied smirk that every adult has once they see everything going exactly the way that they planned.

The young boy had seen that look so many times before from many adults throughout his life that it was the only expression that looked authentic on every single adult, just like that big-headed freak sitting right in front of him.

Still, there was no answer from the man.

Why the hell hasn’t he responded yet!

Growing more infuriated by the seemingly endless silence that fell upon the small room.

He tightly clenched his fist in anger causing a slight squeak as the rubber fabric of the gloves shifted with the movement of his fingers, the now enraged Zim was practically waiting for the chance to lung up at the stupid man and violently force an answer out of him disgusting wind pipe, but luckily for the man, this brutal assault was interrupted when the boy finally heard the man’s response to his question at long last.

“I-” He stopped for a brief moment before he took a steady breath and hesitantly spoke again. “I just want to know a little bit more about you, like your interest or what you like and dislike,” he explained to a more relaxed yet still irritated Zim.

Because while Zim was glad to finally get his question answered, this response only made the young child even more confused and frustrated at the counselors' unknown intentions.

“And why do you care about that huh?, what the hell are you planning Dib-stink tell me!” by now Zim was done with these stupid insufferable questions, and he was done with the fake act that this pathetic excuse of a guidance counselor was trying to pull.

Dib was now deeply conserved by this suddenly aggressive response, why would that question offend him in any way?

This reaction filled the adult male with cold dread, Dib didn’t have a single clue on why he kept on causing Zim such a great amount of discomfort.

“Zim I’m not planning anything.” that was the only thing he could tell the upset child because that was the full and honest truth and the adult desperately hoped that Zim would be able to trust him.

“I promise you that there isn’t any ulterior motive here, I promise.” That was a laugh, like hell he wasn’t planning anything else, and it was going to take a lot more than a meaningless promise to make Zim even remotely trust that greasy pig.

He probably just wanted to know about his interest just so he could use this information against him in the future, that was it and Zim knew it. Zim knew that this was his plan, there was no other possible reason for that kind of information to be shared, and that just brought Zim over the edge.

“YOU LIE!” Zim blurted out in irritation at the man’s obvious lie, though Zim didn’t intend to bust out like that he couldn’t lie it honestly felt pretty good to finally let these built-up emotions towards the man, usually, Zim hated showing this much emotion in front of any adults, he was disgusted with himself for being so emotionally weak.

But god the man had quite the nerve to lie directly in Zim’s face, hell doing something so disrespectful to Zim the foolish man deserved every single scream and insult that was coming his way. “You’re lying, Zim knows you are, all you filthy piles of meat do is lie, you can’t trick the mighty Zim, you pig!”

Dib was just trying to process what was happening, it honestly seemed like he couldn’t ask Zim any kind of question with there being a rage-filled response from the small child, how the hell was he to ever make any progress at this point if he couldn’t even get a simple response.

So Dib tried to use this as a chance to maybe get Zim’s option on other people, maybe then he might get an answer on why the child was so distrustful of others, yes it may not be completely logical but it was worth a shot. “Zim why do you assume that everyone lies?”

“Zim does not ‘assume’ you filthy counselor pig, Zim knows!” he sounded so sure of himself like there was no other possible answer, as his perception of the truth was the only one there is.

That answer stuck with Dib and buried deep within his mind like how a slimy white maggot would dig its way in the rotting flesh of a corpse. Despite Zim’s clear anger at the man, he could get an honest answer out of him this way, so Dib asked Zim.

“Have people lied to you in the past?” Dib already knew the answer to that question, but he just really needed to hear it from Zim.

And without skipping a beat Zim loudly answered back in a blind rage.

“OF COURSE THEY HAVE-” Zim's eyes widened as he realized what he had just revealed to the man who understood the hidden meaning behind his words.

Once the boy had realized his horrible mistake Zim tried to go back on his previous statement in any way that he could.“I-I mean of course not, Zim has just seen it from other fools who have been deceived, that's all.” but it appeared that the damage was already done as Zim couldn’t backtrack from this grave mistake.

Dib could see the panic in his eyes he had said too much and gave the man a ridiculously huge amount of information to use against him, christ only knows what the man knew from that accidental slip of the tongue.

Zim’s blood ran cold and he could feel his entire body going numb as he tried to stay upright in his chair, his hands tightly gripped the seat rail in an attempt to keep his increasing limb body steady on the wooden chair.

Zim could see from the Dib’s expression that he didn’t believe him for even a second, and that was when the child knew that he had lost there was no point in denying it any longer, it would just look sad if Zim kept on trying to dig himself out of the hole that he dug with his own words.

Even though Zim knew it was pointless to keep up this act he just couldn’t bring himself to admit defeat just yet, because until it over you don’t know what might happen.

“You know Zim, I've been lied to in the past.”

“Zim was not lied too, I’m not a fool who can be easily taken advantage of!” Those words that Zim spoke were quite telling of how Zim thought of himself.

He thought of himself as a ‘fool’ and someone who was easily taken advantage of by others, these insecurities were most likely the prime cause of Zim’s distrust of others and why it was such a challenge for him to open up to other people.

This was why Zim never talked to anyone in his class, this was why he was having several fights in the halls and this was why Zim was having severe behavioral problems in multiple classes.

When Dib had first heard about some of Zim’s problems he just labeled it as just a short rebellious faze, but now that Zim was right there in front of him, now that he could pick up on the subtle hints that the boy gave off, Dib knew that Zim was going through much more than just a rebellious phase in his life.

Zim was going through a rough time in his life, and though Dib hadn’t had a clue of what that was he was determined to help Zim get through this difficult time in his life.

Because even though Dib knew that Zim was going through an entirely different set of circumstances Dib knew that he could help the boy regardless of how different his problems were in compassion to Zim.

That was when Dib spoke once again.“That doesn't make you a fool just because someone lied to you Zim.” It seems as though Zim didn’t quite know how to respond to that because after several unsuccessful attempts to come up with a response Zim groaned in frustration and effortlessly slouched downwards in his seat.

Oh god, this again “Look, I know that I can’t truly convince you to fully trust me, and I’m not expecting that of course,”

“But I want you to know that I will never lie to you Zim, and I may not be fully able to prove it right away but right now I want you to take my word that I will never be dishonest with you.”

The small interior of the office remained silent once again with Zim shifting in his seat as the only source of sound to help ease Dib from this extremely tense situation.

It remained that way for a little bit longer then Dib would have liked, but the tense adult man was suddenly surprised with the sound of Zim’s voice.

“Reading.” It was a rather quick answer, so quick in fact that the adult couldn’t even fully comprehend what was just said to him.

“W-what?” Dib almost thought that he was hearing things for a second there but what he heard after that was an annoyed groan followed by the sound of Zim shifting in his seat, Zim was now at least facing Dib, he still wasn’t looking at him in the eyes but Dib didn’t mind this at all.

A still irritated yet significantly calmer Zim spoke up in a more clear and concise tone as to not confuse the man once again. “One of Zim’s hobbies is reading.”

And with that answer came a smile on Dib’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like this chapter so far, chapter five will continue off right where this one left off so if you think you didn’t get enough information on Zim’s currently situation then stay tune for chapter five, when ever that comes out.


	5. Who’s Gir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dib learns a bit more about Zim’s family and he finds out about a little dog that Zim accidentally brings up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say thanks for everyone who reads and follows this story, I’m so honored to see how much of a positive response this story had gotten so far.
> 
> Thank you all for reading this.

“So what kind of books do you like to read?” It was a simple question but one that would reveal quite a bit about the boy’s interest.

Dib wondered just what type of genre Zim was into, though Dib could probably make an estimated guess based off of the boy’s personality and his rather rebellious nature the man didn’t want to just assume things about Zim, it was unprofessional and just downright rude.

Thought Dib’s wonders were soon answered when he heard Zim’s response. “Zim enjoys reading books that involve the suffering of the smelly human meat pigs.”

For a brief moment the man tried to discover what he could take from that answered, what could Zim have meant by ‘the suffering of the smelly human meat pigs’ ignoring the smelly pig part Dib thought that maybe that was just the boy’s way of explaining that he liked to read books that were in the horror genre, or perhaps maybe thriller.

Even so Dib was still a good bit confused by his answer.

It seemed as though Zim was able to notice the man’s confusion through his puzzled expression and his silence, so the boy quickly ref razed his answer to one that the man would easily understand. “But I should say that I enjoy many stories that involve cosmic or psychological horror.” 

Zim spoke in a tone that could only be explained as pure excitement and passion for the books that he deeply loves, and he seemed just thrilled that he was able to talk about this topic with someone else.

Dib knew that this might be a bit of a stupid question to ask, but the man just wanted to be sure of Zim’s answer before he would continue the conversation, so he decided to just make sure. “So you mainly like stories from the horror genre?”

“Correct Dib-stink, I find those specific types of books to be rather amusing compared to the other ‘genres’ of books.” Zim answered back in the same excited tone that he had previously before.

“I see, well despite the fact that I think those types of stories aren’t very appropriate for you to be reading, I think it’s good that your reading at least.”

“Are there any other books that you like that aren’t horror?”

Zim thought about this for a few moments, what other genres did he like? Zim didn’t enjoy fantasy or drama, he never understood the point of that. And he definitely didn’t enjoy comedy as he found that specific type of genera to be very repetitive so he avoided comedy books at all cost.

The only other genre that Zim actually enjoyed other than horror was probably the sci fi genre, but there was no way he would ever tell the man this.

While sure Zim definitely did trust Dib a little bit more than he had before, and he clearly knew that the man would look down on him for enjoying sci fi books, in fact Dib would probably be thrilled with this since it seemed as though the man also enjoyed the sci fi genre as well.

But even though Zim knew that there wouldn’t be any problems with telling Dib his other favorite genre of books, the still cautious child decided that it would be better if he just kept this little interest of his a secret for now. “There are a few that I find… adequate, but I mainly enjoy Horror.”

Dib nodded in response as he wrote down a few more notes. “I could never get into horror stories that much.”

Zim almost burst into a mad fit of laughter once he heard that little detail about the man, Dib an adult was genuinely scared of horror stories and most likely movies at that too, oh god that was just plain sad even pitiful, hell this was even worse than the man’s massively big head.

After learning about this Zim knew that he had to hear more. “And why’s that, is the little Dib-stink too scared of a few horror stories?” the smug boy asked is his best mocking voice that he could put on.

“No,” Dib blurted out in a hopeless attempt to deny this accusation , but Zim could see right through this sad yet compelling attempt to stay face, so cutting his losses short Dib admitted with a defeated sigh. 

“Well okay maybe a little bit, but I guess I just preferred stories that are more… uplifting, stories that have a happy ending.”

So the man liked ‘Uplifting stories’ Zim made a mental note of that.

“Pathetic little Dib-stink, if you were going to be scared of something it could at least be something real.” Despite Dib wanting to disagree with Zim it would be dishonest to say that the child didn’t have a good point.

“Okay, I’ll admit that horror books and movies aren’t one of my strong suits, but there had to be at least one horror story that scared you.”

Zim was quick to respond to this question. “Not me Dib-stink I’m just too amazing to be brought down by a bunch of made up stories.” Zim was never scared by any of the films and books that he’s seen over the years, he always knew that they were all just fictional stories that couldn’t exist outside of a book or film.

“So to answer your idiotic question, no I was never scared by any horror story.”

Dib laughed to himself, this was maybe just an attempt by Zim to make himself seem tougher, most kids usually did that so Dib just decided to go along with it.

“Is there anything else that you need to ask the mighty Zim?”

This question gave Dib many different options for him to take, he could ask if his parents were okay with him reading such material at his age, or even how the young child even managed to acquire such content in the first place. But deciding against that for now Dib decided that he should leave that type of question for a later discussion.

“Why yes, in fact there is.”

“Then hurry up and ask your question before I get bored.”

And wasting no time the guidance counselor swiftly stated his next question. “Is there any other hobby that you have besides reading?”

It took Zim a good bit of time to answer this question what other hobbies did he have, apparently none from his lack of an answer all Zim ever did with his free time was reading that was all.

Christ couldn’t he just be happy with Zim’s first answer and leave it at that? Apparently not because the man was still picking at him for even more information, information that Zim didn’t even have to give.

That was when Zim just realized that he could just lie, but it would have to be a lie that was well thought out and with enough information to make it believable, and while Zim knew it was risky, he still decided to go through with his insane lie regardless if the Dib-beast could see through it.

“Zim… um Zim enjoys playing in the park,” Jesus Christ that was awful, that had to be the worst thing he could have said. But there was no turning back at this point so the still determined child pushed through.

“Yes that’s right, I enjoy playing in the park like a normal child.” And to finish this huge embarrassment of a lie was a large awkward smile that made it even more obvious to the already skeptical man that Zim was lying through his teeth.

Dib just was about to question the authenticity of Zim response but the man stopped himself halfway when he decided that he might as well see just how far Zim will keep up this lie, heck it might be kind of amusing to see just how far he goes.

So in the most gullible tone that the man could put on, he asked Zim. “Oh really, well that’s very good, and just what do you do when you’re out in the park?” Zim eyes widened when he heard that question. 

The boy slightly tensed up in his seat as his mind was now filled with uncertainty, damn this pile of stinking pig flesh he just keeps on pushing for more information, this plan had backfired horribly and now Zim was stuck trying to come up with another lie to go on top of the first one.

Okay he just needed to stay calm and think of something to say, what do most kids his age do at the park? The child came up with several different answers that would hopefully be enough to get Zim out of this horrible predicament.

So without even thinking about what he was saying Zim rapidly blurred out several different activities that he thought Dib would easily fall for. 

“Easy I like to run around in the dirt like all the other pig children, um… I also throw big rocks in the rivers, yes that sounds about right and I also-” that when Zim thought of someone.

Someone who was very important to Zim, someone who he spent every single day with and who was absolutely irreplaceable to the young boy. 

“I also, enjoying walking around the park with Gir, that’s always my favorite activity.” Dib instantly noticed the look on Zim’s face once he mentioned that name, it seemed to bring a huge sense of warmth and happiness to the child which was something that was completely foreign to the adult male.

“Well that seems a lot more believable than the other two ‘activities’ that you mentioned.” At first Zim just ignored this remark from his counselor as just more nonsense. 

But then Zim noticed the man’s specific use of the word ‘Believable’ for a short moment the boy didn’t really understand what the foolish counselor even meant.

And that was when Zim finally realized what the man had truly meant, and this sudden realization made the boy shirek out in aggravation at the adult’s hidden intentions. 

“YOU KNEW I WAS LYING!” Zim was outraged, he was completely angered that he had been tricked by Dib of all people.

“But how?” that was all Zim was able to say to the man, sure he knew that this particular lie was probably the single worst ones that the child had ever came up with, but he never would expect Dib to pretend to fall for it and ask for even more details. Zim would have never expected the man to be this smart. 

“The second you mentioned playing around in the dirt, that was a dead giveaway.” Dib explained as he tried to tone his smug smile down a bit as to not rub his clever trick in the child’s face.

“How dare you trick Zim.” Zim angrily shouted as he childishly sulked in his chair which only caused the adult to break down in a fit of laughter.

“Your right Zim, I’m sorry.” The man tried to stop his laughter as he apologized but he couldn’t help himself and Zim was just making it all the more difficult to stop his laughs. Just watching the young boy as he tried his best to look threatening was just too much for Dib to handle.

Eventually Dib managed to calm himself down just long enough for Zim to come up with another insult. “I should just rip your head off right now.” 

Zim was flabbergasted, how did he not pick up on any of the signs? The man couldn’t have been that good at lying there was no way. 

However Zim’s thoughts were interrupted by another statement from the man.

“You know, there was one thing you said that I think is actually true.” Zim looked at the man in confusion, what was he on about now? He continued to eye the counselor until he heard the man’s next question. 

The adult male had wondered just who was this Gir character that Zim had mentioned, they had to be important to the child since Zim didn’t call them a stink pile or pig flesh even once, and that was when he started to wonder if Gir could be a close friend perhaps? 

Or maybe he was a pet? Either way the curious man would have to ask the child about who he was talking about.

So he asked Zim. “Who’s Gir?”

For a short moment Zim had genuinely forgotten that he even mentioned Gir in the first place, and now Dib was aware of his existence and there was no chance that Zim would be able to lie his way out of it.

Zim thought about how he should word his answer as to not make things even more confusing for the counselor and more embarrassing for himself, he thought long and hard about before Zim reluctantly responded to Dib who was patiently waiting. 

After a few seconds of Zim building himself up the child just decided to bite the bullet and talk about Gir. 

“Gir… Gir is my companion,” No that was way too vague for Dib to fully understand, he had to be more specific. 

“I mean he’s my dog.” Zim quickly corrected as his face turned to a deep shade of red from his accidental slip of the tongue.

A dog, that made a lot of sense considering that many people going through difficult times tend to turn towards their pets for affection when they can’t get it from others and animals were a great source of comfort.

“I see, why don’t you tell me a bit more about Gir.” it seemed that this request for more information about his pet made Zim a little bit nervous which Dib had me st certainly noticed.

Zim was trying to think of what he should say about Gir, and what wasn’t there to say about his trusted companion, if he wanted Zim could talk about his dog for hours without stopping. 

He could talk about all the adventures that they had been on, all the times that Gir had been there for him when he had no one else, he could talk about all of those wonderful experiences that he’s had thanks to Gir. 

But there was just that concerned voice in the back of Zim’s head that just kept on telling him that he shouldn’t willingly give the adult this information, he did trust the man yes that was true, but he just couldn’t shake that feeling that had when talking to others.

The horrible sense that he was being deceived by the adult male, but despite Zim wanting to avoid talking any further, the boy just decided to be very careful with his words and what he revealed to the man, if he did this well then there would be no problem.

“Very well, Gir is my trusty dog, who follows my every command.” His tone was much more consistent to how Zim usually talked.

“Wow, so I assume that Gir’s trained very well then.”

“Of course Dib-stink Gir is amazingly trained by myself of course, he can perform several tricks that would shatter your feeble little pig mind.'' Despite the insult Dib found Zim’s praise and admiration for his dog to be genuinely sweet, it kind of reminded Dib of how some parents would go on about their kids at the many parent teacher nights that the skool held every now and then. 

For a short bit Zim continued to talk about what kind of tricks Gir could do and how he was always loyal to him, he talked about several bizarre adventures that they both had gone on.

From what Dib was able to understand it seemed like Zim did almost everything with Gir by his side.

“How old is your dog?”

Zim answered this question in an instant. “He’s currently three years old, I first met Gir when he was just a puppy.”

This was going fairly well, Dib was finally getting an answer from Zim without any kind of hesitation or uncertainty from the boy, it showed that now Zim was at least a bit more trusting of him.

Wanting to keep up this conversation Dib quickly asked Zim another question. “When did you first get him?” 

“I first got him a few weeks before Christmas, he was an early gift from my parents.”

“I see, did you always want a dog?”

“Not at first, I always used to despise the whole idea of having a pet, I remember on that day I was just dreading the fact that I was going to be stuck with filthy diseased ridden animal for god knows how long.” Zim expression upon remembering those long forgotten feelings turned into one of both anger and seemingly regret.

However Zim expression then turned to a much more relaxed one. “But when I had seen Gir that day, something in my mind just clicked and I felt as though I was always meant to have him in my life.” They must have quite the connection Dib thought as he wrote down this huge wave of new information as fast as his hand would allow. 

“And so without a second thought, I told my parents that I wanted Gir, my father seemed less than thrilled that I had picked a dog, while my mother didn’t care either way.”

Before Dib could ask a few more questions about Zim’s beloved pet he was cut off by the loud booming sound of a thundercloud that brought Zim’s attention towards the window.

Once the loud thunderous bangs died down a few small droplets of water hit the glass of the window as the thick grey clouds loomed high in the sky casting the whole area in a dark shadow that seemed to make the already depressing skool grounds even more grim and unappealing.

Another loud roar from the growing thunder clouds brought Zim gaze up towards the sky.

“Zim do you mind if I can ask you another question?”

Seemingly still focused on the faint sounds of the rain drops on the glass Zim halfheartedly asked him. “What’s the question?”

“What’s your family like?” Zim’s expression turned to one of pure confusion at the sudden and unexpected change of the subject.

“Why do you want to know about that?” The still shocked child spoke in a clearly defensive tone as if the counselor had just insulted him instead of asking him a relatively normal question that one would expect a guidance counselor to ask.  
Dib wrote down a quick paragraph in his notepad before he looked back up a Zim who was impatiently waiting for an answer from the man, his expression was one of irritation from the man’s silence and it seemed that the boy was quite suspicious about what he was writing in that notepad of his. 

“I just want to know a little bit more about, that's all.” The man explained with a soft smile that still didn’t help to ease Zim’s suspicions. 

For a brief moment Zim clearly debated in his head on just ignoring the question altogether and maybe just move on to another less stressful topic instead.

Yeah that’s right Zim could just easily refuse to answer the question and that big headed counselor would just have to accept it and move on.

But despite the boy desperately wanting to ignore the question and scream at the stupid man for even daring to ask Zim such a question, but before he could even utter a word in protest Zim stopped himself once he finaly realized that it would look rather suspicious if he refused to answer any questions about his family, especially since he had no problem with talking about Gir. 

Any normal child wouldn’t have any kind of problem with talking about their family to someone, and Zim felt that if he kept on refusing to talk about his family that would definitely cause him some big trouble in the near future.

So instead of downright answering the question Zim instead reluctantly asked the man. 

“What exactly do you mean by that?” Hopefully this would help to provide Zim some much needed information so he could try to work out what to say in response to Dib’s question.

“Well for example what do your parents do for work?” He explained to the boy who was carefully listening to every word that he said.

Good that was an easy enough question or Zim to answer. “My father works as an accountant at a large bank, while my mother works as a gardener.” The boy quickly answered in a rather constrained tone that Dib had definitely noticed.

Deciding to ignore that fact for now Dib wrote down in his notepad before he continued on. “So you’re mother’s a gardener, I guess that explains the gloves then huh.” He stated in a joking tone as to hopefully brighten up the atmosphere a little bit.

However Zim didn’t find this comment to be very amusing, not one bit and he made very well sure to make Dib full aware of this fact. 

“Make another stupid joke about Zim and we’ll see what happens!” His tone was venomous and filled with anger, hopefully this would let the foolish adult know that he wouldn’t get away with making any more jokes about his appearance. 

“Sorry about that Zim, I didn’t mean to insult you.” Zim genuinely wanted to respond to this miserable apology with another aggressive response, but for some strange reason Zim decided that it would be best to just accept his apology and move on with the questions.

“Very well Dib, just don’t let it happen again.”

“I won’t, I promise.” and that seemed to be enough to satisfy the young boy. 

“Are you going to continue on with the questions or what?” Zim requested as he wanted to get these series of questions over and done with.

Taking the hint Dib quickly moved on to his next question, he cleared his throat before he asked Zim. 

“Yes of course, does your mother work independently at home or does she work at a business?” It took Zim a little bit longer than usual to answer this particular question in comparison to the others, but eventually the boy reluctantly answered Dib’s question.

“She works at her own business in the city” Zim swiftly stated in the excited same constrained tone as the last time, it honestly seemed like the boy was just trying not to slip up and say anything that might cause a problem for him later on.

His expression seemed to be a stressful one with a slight hint of worry somewhere in there as well, it seemed like Zim was possibly afraid that he might end up revealing something about his family that he wasn’t allowed to talk about.

Dib swiftly wrote down another observation in his book by now he had several pages full of information that he could use for later, once he had done that he calmly responded to the young boy’s answer.

“I see, she must be pretty successful then.” Dib answered with a quick nod as he looked back down at his notes, the page was almost fully written in.

Zim rolled his eyes at that incredibly moronic statement. “Of course she is, she wouldn’t have her own business if she wasn’t Dib-stink.”

Ignoring the insult and just wrote down a brief summary of what Zim had just said, he skipped a few little details of the boy’s sentence but he generally had the gist of his comment. 

From what he’s heard about Zim’s parents they both seem to be quite successful people with his mother even owning her own business from the sounds of it, at first it seemed like everything that the boy had told him was relatively normal, say for a few noticeable actions in response to the current question. 

“Is there anything else that you want to know?” Zim was hoping his response would be a quick no and nothing more.

And it seemed that this was the answer that Zim was going to get. “Oh no, I think you answered enough of my questions for today, thank you.”

The young boy didn’t even bother responding to Dib. He was just relieved that these series of seemingly endless questions were finally over.

God Zim couldn’t believe just how much information that he had just willing handed over to this moron in the span of a few minutes, what was he even thinking revealing such details about Gir and his parents.

Why didn’t he just refuse to answer any of his questions and leave it at that, Zim tried to think of a logical explanation that could explain this huge level of incompetence and carelessness only to be interpreted by the irritating sound of Dib’s deep voice.

“We have a few more minutes left, would you like to ask me any questions?”

Usually Zim would take any opportunity to learn any kind of important information on his annoying guidance counselor, hey maybe he could learn so important information about the man as a form of payback.

But right now the boy just wasn’t quite sure if he really wanted to bother with pulling something like that off, it seemed like a huge amount of effort that the boy didn’t have.

He could try something similar to that another day, right now he would just focus on getting through the last few remaining classes and making his way home.

“No, I would just like to go now.” Zim quietly stated as he jumped off of the tall wooden chair.

Dib was definitely caught off guard by the boy’s answer, he would have at least expected a witty comment in response to his question but not something like this.

Maybe Zim was just tired, it had been a long day already and he was probably just fed up with talking right now. “Okay we’ll end it here for today, you can ask me some questions tomorrow okay.” 

With only a quick nod in response to the man’s promise Zim briskly left the room without speaking a single word.

After a loud slam of the thick wooden door Dib was now only left with his own thoughts and the light tapping of the rain outside.

He remembered hearing earlier that morning that there was a huge possibility of a storm coming through, and based off of the dark clouds and the constant rainfall it seemed like this storm was going to be a bad one.  
———————

Zim walked down the empty hallway in an ardent rush, he just wanted to leave this disgusting mess of a skool and return home. 

He only had one more class left before he was allowed to leave, and thankful for the boy’s sanity he had a class with Ms Bitters.

While sure Zim still despised that old hag it was a better alternative than being stuck with that overjoyed fool Mr Elliot, Zim was dreading the day when he would have to sit in his class.

He would definitely ask Zim how his talks were going so far and would most likely reveal this fact to his entire class.

Zim was so far successful in hiding this fact from his other classmates by just saying that he was either going to the bathroom or just leaving when it was time for the meeting.

Since all of his teachers knew about this they didn’t ask any questions, and thankfully for Zim almost everyone in his class had never noticed him leaving the room.

Before today Zim was relatively okay with these pointless meetings, Zim absolutely loved the fact that he could insult the man with absolutely no consequences it was like having his own personal punching bag, no it was more like having a personal servant.

As Zim made his way back to Ms Bitters class he took a quick glance up at a nearby clock that was hung on the wall, there was only ten more minutes left of the class and so he would finally be home.

He opened the door and walked briskly into the large dirty classroom, thankfully for the young boy no one in the entire room didn’t seem to notice Zim’s presence not even that old sack of bones Ms Bitters, she was just spouting on with her usual speech about how cold and cruel the world is, so nothing new there.

Thankfully she didn’t announce his presence to the entire classroom.

So Zim just sat down near his desk and did his usual act of pretending to listen to his teacher while he just got lost in his own thoughts.

Now all Zim had to do was just sit silently in his seat and wait for this day to finally end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter might take me a little while to complete since I’m now back in school, but I promise that I’ll get it done soon.


	6. A long drive home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is A good bit longer compared to the previous chapters, so expect this to take a bit to finish.
> 
> With this chapter I wanted to kind of show a bit more of Dib’s past and hopefully add a bit more chapter to him.
> 
> And with Zim this chapter is starting to set up a few plot points that will be used in later chapters.

The constant tapping of the rainfall loudly increased as the seconds ticked by and the storm outside intensified, by now Dib couldn’t even think the storm was that loud. He tried as best as he could to focus on his work but no matter what nothing was getting through.

Dib was just irritated at this constant distraction from his work, nothing was working and he couldn’t even focus on anything other than the storm outside, the loud distracting tapping of the rain that honestly seemed to be getting even louder than before.

What made this distraction even more troublesome was the frequent roaring sounds of thunder that occurred almost every few seconds as a reminder of just how intense this storm was in comparison to the last few ones that happened that month.

The counselor slowly sat up from his desk for the first time in several hours. He had been seated for such a long time that Dib’s legs were practically begging to just get up and walk around for a few minutes.

Yeah maybe that would help Dib clear his mind a bit, it was at least worth a shot since he wasn’t exactly using his time for anything productive at that moment.

So wasting no time Dib practically shot up from his chair with a huge burst of energy that the man had just been waiting to use, while Dib quite enjoyed his job he always deeply despise the fact that he had to spend most of his workday stuck sitting in a seat in a small cramped office.

Sure he always had the rest of his day to run around and be more productive, but it just bothers Dib so much when he had to sit still for several hours and wait for the workday to end.

Dib just wanted nothing more than to have an opportunity to move around and be much more active while working, maybe he was asking for a bit too much at this point, hell the man was incredibly lucky to even get this job in the first place, especially considering his piss poor track record.

That record being well known for his crazy conspiracy theories and mad ravings about made-up creatures, god he couldn’t stand knowing that he used to even believe that crap for even a second.

He stretched his arms and loosened his tie just enough so he was more comfortable but not too much to remove the item completely.

As the man looked out through the small window he could see several large puddles of water quickly forming on the ground as the rain continued to pour down from the sky.

Dib had heard several heavy rain and flood warnings have been issued in central parts of the city. Dib had just hoped that the roads leading back home wouldn’t be affected by the rain that much.

But despite Dib’s growing concerns about the weather and the effect that it might cause on his way home, he couldn’t help but think back to today’s meeting with Zim and everything that he had learned about the child.

Today’s meeting had provided the man with a plethora of information and knowledge about Zim’s family and even some of his interest, today was honestly a great show of progress for the young boy and how far he’s come since their first meeting.

However, despite this progress, he still hadn’t found much of an explanation on Zim’s current behavior, from what he’s heard from Zim’s teachers it sounded like the boy has a severe problem with interacting with the kids both in and outside of his class.

Dib wasn’t entirely sure if this was due to Zim being bullied by the other kids in his class or if there was any other explanation that could explain Zim’s lack of interaction with his classmates.

Maybe Zim could be anxious about interacting with the other kids in his year?

Zim did seem to have a great level of distrust towards Dib when they had first met and even up till now, Dib could sense that Zim still didn’t entirely trust the man. Maybe that was the same for everyone else in his class.

Bullying also seems like a fairly possible theory but it was definitely too early to make that kind of judgment, but Dib certainly hoped that this wasn’t the case for Zim.

The man knew how it felt to be bullied by others, Dib had spent his entire childhood and early teen years being tormented by his classmates. But no matter what he did or didn’t do Dib always found himself getting mocked relentlessly by the other kids in his year and even by those above.

It was absurd that even after many years had passed since then Dib was still deeply affected by something so obscure, it was crazy that even as an adult Dib still found himself getting hung up on something absurd as childhood bullies.

The man's gaze fell upon his old coffee mug, it’s once bright white porcelain shape was now littered with small cracks and slight stains from years of use.

The man didn’t know why he even bothered keeping this mug, it was well past its use and Dib could just as easily go out and buy another better mug. Maybe he could find a mug with a cool design or one with an interesting shape.

But doing that would mean going out to the public, going into the fire as some would call it.

Even many years after Dib had abandoned his idiotic behavior and believes he still found himself being a social pariah whenever he stepped foot into any densely populated area, once someone would recognize him Dib would face a whole series of uncomfortable questions and observations from a crowd of cruel people.

Just trying to move on with his life with that constant reminder of his past mistakes made Dib’s life a living hell.

Despite how much He had tried to put those mistakes past him and move on it still came back to him, matter how hard Dib tried he was always known as a freak, an outcast. And that was just something that Dib had to accept.

The audible ringtone of his phone brought Dib out of his pathetic little pity party and back to the real world. Dib wasn’t in the mood to talk with anyone else right now, especially not right after that horrific existential nightmare that Dib was trapped in.

So the adult just decided to ignore the call altogether it was most likely just another one of those scams calls anyway.

But once the repetitive ringtone had died down it would only start back up again just a few seconds later, and this just left Dib perplexed. It was entirely rare for the man to even get a phone call since he doesn’t just give out his number so freely to anybody.

So the only possibility was that Dib was being called by a family member.

And this sudden realization brought Dib to a cold sweat as his mind kept on jumping back to those awful mistakes, Dib knew that this would have happened but he just wanted to avoid this dreadful interaction at all costs.

He had been completely successful at avoiding his father ever since he was a teenager, he would spend most of his days away from the house rooming the street or working at his job, and once he started going to college avoiding his dad had only become even easier.

But now it had progressively gotten more and more difficult to avoid his father as the days passed, sure his dad was still busy with work but that still didn’t entirely help Dib in that situation since his dad could now just call him whenever he pleases.

And if his father was calling then Dib would have to avoid talking to him at all costs. “Oh god please don’t let it be him, please don’t let it be him.” Dib just hoped that maybe by some random chance that pleading would save him from this current predicament.

But it almost seemed like he pleads was answered, once Dib had reluctantly pulled his phone out of his pants pocket a quick glimpse at the screen of his phone revealed that it wasn’t his dad calling.

Right there plastered across the screen was the name ‘Gaz Membrane’ with this came a huge sigh of relief and a brief laugh as Dib sank back into his seat.

It was just Gaz, it wasn’t his dad it was just Gaz.

And once Dib had managed to bring himself back to reality he reluctantly answered the call from his sister who was probably furious at just how long it had taken him to answer her call.

With just a single press of a button, Dib was now met with the rage-filled voice of Gaz lamenting him over the phone for taking so long to answer her call. “Could you not have answered the first time, or was that just too hard for you?!” Great not even a full second into the phone call and Gaz was already furious with him, fantastic.

Dib who was now in a panic blurred out the best lie that he could think of at the time. “Sorry, Gaz I was, um… I was just really busy with work.”

Gaz’s side of the call remained utterly silent for a good few seconds before Dib heard a defeated sigh followed by another insult from his sister. “God, you suck at lying.”

“Yeah, I know.” Dib quietly laughed at his failed attempt to trick his younger sister.

Deciding to try and put his embarrassment of a lie behind him Dib decided to see why she was calling in the first place, so the man asked her. “Do you need me to pick you up from work?”

“No, I just called to say that I’ll be over at a friend's house today. Don't wait around. I won’t be back until tomorrow morning.”

“What else is new.” Dib started in a sarcastic tone as this was the third time this week that Gaz had spent the night over at someone else’s house for the night.

“What was that?” Gaz was quick to snap back at Dib’s little comment.

Shit, he didn’t think she would have been able to hear that. “N-nothing, nothing at all.”

“That’s what I thought.”

The call quickly fell into an awkward silence that made Dib feel a tad bit uncomfortable, the man was almost going to attempt to revive this conversation until Gaz suddenly spoke up yet again. “Are you going to okay getting home in this weather?”

That was a shock, was Gaz calling because she was worried? Dib genuinely felt touched that his little sister was looking out for him. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine, no need to worry,” Dib answered back with a smile and a warm feeling in his heart.

“I’m not worried about you moron if you Die then that’s my ride to work gone.” Despite the rather grim comment, Dib knew that Gaz’s statement wasn’t entirely true, he knew that Gaz was at least a little bit worried about him.

It was almost like Gaz herself could sense this too, so a second later she decided to double down on her statement. Just to make sure that there was no misunderstanding. “So for my sake don’t fuck up and crash the car.”

But no matter what she said it wasn’t enough to take away his warm feeling just yet “Thanks Gaz you always know just what to say.”

“I’ll see you, tomorrow moron.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Once Gaz had deemed the conversation to be over she hung up without speaking another word, and with that Dib silently placed his phone back in his pocket.  
______________________

Dib steadily walked through the eerily quiet hallway, his footsteps caused a great echo that bounced through the expansive hallway.

As the adult continued to walk through the large empty halls of the skool it made the adult man feel a huge sense of nostalgia from when he was a child. Though maybe nostalgia wasn’t the best term to use.

Trauma was the best word to describe what Dib was currently feeling.

Absolute nothing in the skool had changed since he first attended as a student, the old and slightly cracked tiles were still left in their original state, the same strange posters still hung for all to see.

Even the unidentifiable stains were still there on the walls and lockers from many years ago.

Dear god this place desperately needed a janitor, hell maybe even a full cleaning crew because it was clear just by the look of the skool’s interior needed a hell of a lot more than just a mop bucket full of lukewarm water.

The main reason why Dib always attempted to keep his office spotless and free of all germs was that his office was supposed to be a safe place for whoever needed his help, and the man obviously wouldn't expect to make a difference if his office wasn’t even somewhat presentable.

Sure sometimes Dib would go a bit overboard with cleaning his office but it was certainly better to have something thoroughly cleaned than having it done half-assed.

It certainly seemed like Zim had at least appreciated the cleaning since throughout all of the meetings that they had over the past two weeks not once did the child complain about his office, but there was a chance that Zim might have just not noticed the state of the office.

But at least he didn’t complain about it.

The man was still trying to think of what he would ask Zim for their next meeting, while Dib wanted to know a few more details about Zim’s parents he would probably save those questions for a later time since those particular questions were rather personal.

Perhaps he could ask a few more questions about Gir, it seemed like Zim enjoyed talking about his dog so it would be safe to continue talking about his dog, at least for a little while longer.

Once Dib stepped through the front entrance of the skool he was met with the cold sensation of a harsh wind blowing in his direction, he wasn’t wearing a jacket with him this time so the cold wind affected the man even more than the previous day.

The harsh wind caused Dib to slightly wince in irritation as not only was the cold bothersome to Dib his tie kept on hitting him directly in the face due to the high winds, and that just made everything even more difficult to endure.

But once Dib had gotten a bit more used to the cold sensation, that was when his tired eyes had finally noticed that it was someone else outside under the awning.

At first, the adult didn’t know who it was, but once he recognized that specific oversized dark pink hoodie that he had grown accustomed to during the past few days, that was when Dib knew who it was.

Right there standing in the front entrance of the skool just a few inches away from the concrete steps and under the awning was the huddled figure of Zim, the young boy was just sitting there under the protection of the entryway and away from the harsh downpour of rain.

Zim slightly shifted further back towards the front doors as a few drops of rain hit his body, and when a particularly large drop of rain would hit the boy Dib couldn’t help but notice how Zim would grumble and mutter to himself under his breath.

Dib was just dumbfounded to see that the young boy was still on skool grounds even after a whole hour since classes had ended and everyone else had gone home, why was Zim still here? Was he still waiting for his parents to pick him up?

If so then why was he waiting out in the cold instead of in the much warmer skool? And one large factor that Dib had first noticed was that the young child wasn’t even wearing a jacket.

“... Zim?” For a split second Dib’s entire world went silent as the only thing that he focused on was the lonely child sitting only a few feet away from him.

The young boy visibly jumped in shock upon hearing his name, it almost seemed like Zim was… afraid.

Dib wasn’t entirely sure of what he should do or even say at this point, he was just confused and didn’t understand why Zim was even still here in the first place.

The deeply concerned adult then proceeded to slowly make his way closer towards Zim who was still facing off towards the distance, it seemed as though the young child was trying to act as if he didn’t even notice the man’s presence.

But from how Zim’s small body tensed up at every step that he took, Dib could tell that the child was terrified.

Dib slowly bent down to Zim’s height as he called out his name yet again in the hope to get a response from him. “Zim.”

At first Dib simple just thought that maybe Zim hadn’t recognized his voice when in reality the boy didn’t even fully process the sound of his voice, the only factor that Zim even bothered to focus on was that someone was standing right behind and he didn’t have a single clue on what their intentions were.

Running on nothing but pure adrenaline Zim quickly shot up from his previous sitting position and spun around with breakneck speed, using his full backpack as a makeshift weapon for his would-be attacker.

Zim swung his backpack hard, hitting Dib directly in the face.

Dib let an audible scream of pain and fell back to the ground and right into a puddle that had been building up for a short while, Dib instantly felt the cold damp fabric of his jacket as it played there in the small puddle.

And just before Zim was about to swing at his attacker yet again he quickly stopped himself mid-swing once he had realized that his would-be attacker was just his incredibly annoying guidance counselor, though honestly, Zim would have preferred the latter.

His expression then contorted to look a blind rage as he tightly clenched his fist. “You miserable pile of pig guts!” Zim yelled as he stomped his foot and threw his bag down to the ground where it almost hit Dib in the stomach.

But Zim wasn't done there, no he needed to show this insufferable pile of pig meat that he had made a big mistake, and with that in mind Zim marched right over towards the bothersome adult male who was currently still lying on the ground, this in result made the man appear even more pitiful.

“How dare you try to sneak up on the mighty ZIM!” With this newfound sense of superiority, Zim went on a full show of confidence almost as if the young boy was one some kind of stage play specifically for Dib’s eyes only.

“I should bash your big stupid head in until it’s nothing but a mushy pile on the ground.” His voice was dripping with venom, this had probably been the angriest Zim had ever been up until now.

Dib was quick to try and defuse the situation, by trying to at least explain himself to the furious boy who was staring him down as a lion would towards its prey. “Zim I wasn’t trying to sneak up on you, I called out your name twice, did you not hear me?”

Upon hearing this Zim’s frustration instantly disappeared and was replaced by a great sense of embarrassment. “W-well That’s because… SILENCE PIG YOU KNOW NOTHING!”

His face was now a noticeable red complexion that contrasted Zim’s usual color. “Zim has had enough of your filthy lies Dib-stink, now go and leave me alone” Zim demanded as he swiftly put on his backpack with a loud huff of annoyance, now Zim wasn’t even looking at the adult who he had just assaulted.

Dib cautiously lifted himself off the wet ground, by now the entire back of his coat was downright soaked, this, in turn, made wearing the coat completely intolerable as he could feel the damp fabric sticking to the back of his shirt.

A look of regret made itself home on Zim’s face as he fully realized the damage that he had just done, he wouldn’t admit it but there was a feeling of guilt growing inside Zim for his rather brash action against the adult who was just concerned about his well being.

God, why couldn’t he just be a jerk like everyone else, that way Zim wouldn’t even feel bad for hurting him.

Brushing himself off in an attempt to Fix his now dirty blue shirt Dib calmly stated in his usual tone. “Fine but before I do, I just need a few questions answered.”

Zim wasn’t even going to entertain that for a second, he wanted Dib to go away right now, and Zim that abundantly clear. “No, I want you to leave!” He loudly screamed at the man in such a huge show of emotion.

It was quite obvious that the young boy wasn’t in the mood to deal with the adult right now, Zim was still irritated from the fright that Dib had given him and the growing feeling of guilt, and those two factors just made talking to the man even more of a pain than it already was.

But despite this Dib still decided to take the chance and ask the still enraged child. “Can I just ask you one question?” And just before Zim could even reply to his first request he quickly added. “Once you answer it I’ll be gone, just like that.”

It seemed like this statement had worked, Zim was noticeably less hostile towards the adult, his expression still had a hint of anger to it but the boy did generally appear to be a little bit more open to Dib’s question, so with a reluctant sigh and a roll of his eyes, Zim answered Dib’s request.

“Very well, ask you’re idiotic question that will most likely bore me to death, and make it quick.”

Before Dib could even think he found himself asking. “Why aren’t you wearing a jacket?” His tone was curious and somewhat demanding as to show that he was being entirely serious.

Zim was a bit taken aback by this question, out of everything that he could have asked he wanted to ask about a stupid jacket. “A jacket? Why does Dib care if Zim is wearing a jacket or not?”

“Because there was a storm warning earlier this morning, and everyone should be wearing a coat in this kind of weather.” His tone wasn’t one of condescension but one of genuine concern and worry for the young boy’s wellbeing, he should have at least had something to protect him from the cold.

“Well I don’t have time to be looking at the news for weather warnings, my time is much too important.” Zim quickly shot back at the man as he was beginning to get irritated by his constant gripes about his lack of a jacket.

A jacket, an umbrella? hell, even a scarf or softer gloves would have been better than nothing at all.

But Zim had nothing of the sort, he was only found wearing his oversized hoodie, black rubber gloves, and black jeans which honestly looked a bit worse for wear. None of that would be able to provide Zim warmth in this weather.

Dib just didn’t understand it, why didn’t he at least have a jacket with him? hell, it wasn’t just that that bothered the man, why was he still here in the first place? Zim should have been picked up by now, skool had ended over an hour ago.

So why was he still here?

These worrying thoughts and concerns were abruptly cut off as Zim loudly made his presence known to the rude adult who dared to ignore him. “Dib-stink!”

Despite Zim’s growing frustration, Dib was quick to shoot back with another question. “Then what about your parents? surely they would have known about the storm beforehand?” And that was true, surely Zim’s parents would have known about the storm before dropping him off.

Zim’s eyes widened once he heard Dib mention his parents, and then came the excuses and deflects. “I don’t have to answer you!”

Another harsh gust of wind blew by making Zim visibly shiver in discomfort, and Dib was now starting to grow deeply concerned about the boy’s wellbeing, he could easily catch a cold if he were to stay out for any longer.

But by this point, Zim was done with talking and he was done with Dib. “Just leave Zim’s sight at once!” And with a childish huff Zim swiftly turned away from the man’s gaze and crossed his arms over his chest in a kind of self hug.

Unfortunately for the aggravated child this wasn’t going to happen any time soon, Dib wasn’t just going to walk away and leave him out in the cold, there was no chance and subconsciously Zim knew it.

It was at that moment when Dib knew exactly what he needed to ask him.

“Okay Zim I’ll leave, but first can you answer my last question?” This was just a big lie but it was needed to get an answer from Zim.

The still annoyed boy crossed his arms over his chest, god he just doesn’t know when to quit. If answering his stupid question will make him leave faster then Zim just had to deal with it.

And with a huff, Zim turned around and faced the adult. “Fine, what is it?”

Pulling no punches Dib abruptly asked Zim a direct question that he genuinely needed an answer to. So Dib asked. “How exactly are you getting home?”

Zim’s eyes instantly darted away from the man, for some reason this seemingly simple question made the young child extremely nervous, his shoulders tensed up, and his light purple eyes quickly darted around desperately looking for an excuse to give the man.

Unfogently this attempt was destined to fail and once Zim realized this fact he reluctantly answered Dib’s question. “I… I’m umm… walking home, yes that’s right I’m going to walk home.” Sadly, that wasn’t the answer that Dib exactly wanted to hear, and Zim knew it.

Dib was in full disbelief at this idiotic suggestion Zim can’t be serious, can he? Even though he had to know that this type of weather isn’t anywhere near safe enough to walk home, but Dib couldn’t sense any hint of sarcasm from the child, it did seem like he was being serious.

Still wanting to believe that he was joking around Dib reluctantly asked the child for some much-needed clarity. Hopefully, this would maybe clear things up for the still confused adult. “You’re just messing with me right?” Dib hoped to god that this was true, it had to be there was no way that Zim was being serious.

But unfortunately for him, Zim was being genuine with his answer. “Of course not, how else am I supposed to get home Dib-beast?” He was getting quite confused at Dib’s reaction to his statement, why was walking home suddenly a huge shock? He had always done it before and no one else ever had a problem with that.

“Zim you can walk home alone in this weather and especially not without a coat, you’ll get sick.” Dib tried to reason with him but it was no good, Zim was still sticking to his suggestion regardless of what the adult said.

Zim, still being in an argumentative mood wanted to continue this argument even further with the insistent man, however, this intention was abruptly cut short when the sudden loud rumble of thunder was heard in the far off distance.

The booming crash of thunder had caused a startled Zim to slightly jump from the sudden noise and produced a startled gasp as he stumbled back in towards the doors of the skool falling on the concrete ground.

Dib quickly bent down to see if Zim was alright only to be met with the same defiance and aggression that the boy had shown earlier that day.

Zim violently slapped the man’s hand away and swiftly stepped back several feet towards the steps of the skool glaring at the man as he did this.

Dib stood himself back up gently rubbing the hand that the confrontative child had just slapped.

Placing his hand down to his side Dib attempted yet again to convince Zim that what he was suggesting was extremely dangerous.

“Zim you honestly can’t expect to walk home in this weather, it’s far too dangerous.” the young boy seemed to take great offense to that statement, what the hell does he know about what was and wasn’t dangerous? Zim’s walked home in much more intense weather before, and this so-called ‘storm’ was nothing.

“Oh please,” the boy responded with a roll of his eyes at the adult’s absurd concerns. “I can fully take care of myself, and this feeble little RAIN isn’t going to stop me.” Zim loudly stated it was clear that he didn’t even believe what he was saying.

“Zim this is just st-“ Dib was just about to finish that statement before he realized just what he was about to say, it seems like Zim knew this too as his expression turned into one of irrationality at the man’s poor choice of words.

‘Stupid’ that was the word that almost slipped out, Did have just speared himself a rather huge outburst from the young boy, he couldn’t even begin to wonder just what might have happened if he spoke that word.

But Zim was aware of what Dib was about to say, and he wasn’t pleased with all. With a low growl and a tight clench of his fist, Zim spoke in a low tone that was barely even heard by the man. “Filthy Dib is stupid.”

Dib looked down at Zim and let out a defeated sigh, Christ he was just so stubborn, it genuinely seemed like they both made a great amount of progress that day. And Dib was afraid that all of that was now gone.

“Look I know that you may not want my help, but I can’t knowingly leave you here in this weather.” Zim dramatically groaned in annoyance as he was growing deeply irritated by the man’s repetitive statements.

“Well, Zim could have been halfway home by now if you didn’t keep on bothering me!” Zim’s loudly proclaimed to the annoying man as he summed up all his strength and stomped his foot down on the concrete floor making a laughable thudding sound that was barely even audible over to the sounds of the harsh winds and rain.

Another tired sigh escaped Dib’s lips as he ran his hand through his hair. “Zim…”

“Please can you just listen to me.”

God Zim honestly debated just bashing the man’s head in again, or at the very least he could start yelling at him.

But for some unknown reason, the way that Dib had spoken to Zim made him think back to the talk that they had earlier that day, the way that Dib had spoken to him, the amount of respect that he had shown Zim just made the boy feel ashamed of himself for how he had been acting.

The distanced feeling of guilt, that feeling of shame, it just made Zim want to yell out at the stupid adult for the sheer nerve of making him feel these sort of negative emotions.

The young child tried to speak out against the man but nothing came from his throat. He couldn’t even think of anything to say at that moment. Everything was just passing by him. And Zim just stood there in utter silence.

And that was because Zim generally couldn’t bring himself to yell at the man, he didn’t understand why his stupid counselor was being so insistent on not letting him walk home alone, it was just a little bit of rain how bad could that be?

Throwing his hands up in defeat Zim stated. “Well if I can’t walk home then what am I supposed to do?” He was just waiting to see what idiotic suggestion the man would throw at him, regardless of not knowing what Dib was going to propose Zim knew that it was going to an incredibly stupid one

It had even appeared as if Dib himself was unsure of what to suggest, it was so easy to shoot down Zim's plan on walking home but coming up with a solution was almost next to impossible.

However Dib did have a suggestion, it was just that he knew Zim wouldn’t like this one bit, but it was certainly better than nothing at all. And with a bit of newfound confidence, Dib proudly announced his plan. “I can give you a lift home.”

To say Zim didn’t exactly respond well to the adult’s suggestion was a bit of an understatement, he detested it. But Dib just continued as if he hadn’t noticed the visible signs of frustration that the small child was showing.

“I live in the same neighborhood as you, so it wouldn’t even be that long of a drive.”

Once Zim had heard that little fact his mind instantly turned to the absolute worst outcome for the man to know that kind of information. “And just how did you know about that, tell me Dib-stink!”

“The skool has your address Zim,” Dib calmly stated. “Besides, almost every kid who goes to this skool lives around my neighborhood.” Okay, that was a logical explanation that helped to set Zim’s mind at ease.

However despite this clarity Zim still wasn’t fully sure if he should even take the man’s offer, why would he even bother doing something so tedious like offering to drive him home.

Looking back towards the pouring rain made Zim second guess about Dib’s offer, by now his offer for a lift was seeming even more persuasive by the second, but there was just that nagging, niggling feeling that something horrible was going to happen if he took up this offer.

Something horrible would happen to him if he took Dib-stink up on his lift, he might end up crashing his car or drive off into a ditch or even worse, he'd start playing some agent songs from the 70s.

No Zim definitely couldn’t go through any of that, he would rather put up the pouring rain or get struck by lightning than have to deal with his obnoxious counselor for any second longer than he had to.

If Zim thought that being stuck with Dib in a small cramped office was awful than being stuck in a small car was going to be an absolute nightmare, but it was a nightmare that the frustrated boy was going to have to endure.

“Okay.”  
_________________________

Once the both of them had made it to Dib’s car the rain had significantly intensified since when it had first begun, Zim was seated in the front of the car with his face partially obscured by his hoodie. He hadn’t spoken a single word since they began their journey.

This might cause a problem for Dib, later on, he knew that Zim lived in the same neighborhood as him so he wouldn’t need any directions for that, but when it came to the boy’s house he had no clue.

Dib would have to ask Zim for directions to his house, he just hoped that Zim wouldn’t refuse to tell him. A glance over towards the boy relieved his tense posture and cold shivers, this just made Zim’s lack of a coat even more questionable.  
Why didn’t he have one, Zim did seem like the kind of child who would always oppose any kind of authority figure, maybe his parents told him to take his coat and Zim just simply ignored them and left without one. But he knew the boy was smarter than that.

The man’s ears were met with the distinct sounds of coughing coming from Zim who was now slightly bent over covering over his mouth with one hand, they sounded harsh and rapid this was no doubt caused by the lone exposure to the harsh weather. He just hoped that Zim hadn’t caught a cold.

A quick turn of the heater’s dial gave Zim the warm sensation of hot air on his chilled body, he seemed to be a bit surprised by this sudden and unexpected action Zim would be lying if he said he didn’t at least appreciate this considerate gesture.

With that much-needed bit of warmth now in the car, Dib decided that it would be best to start a conversation with Zim. “We’ve been getting pretty bad weather lately, huh?” There was no response from Zim, he just sat there in the passenger seat with his arms crossed and his face hidden in his hoodie.

‘Okay so much for making conversation’ Dib thought to himself, the only thing he should focus on is getting Zim home and nothing more.

As the storm continued on the loud repetitive tapping of the rainfall hit against the windscreen causing Dib to switch on the radio in an attempt to drown out the repetitive tapping.

With the quick press of a button, the tapping rainfall was quickly drowned out by the static sounds of the car’s radio, and with a few clicks through the many different radio stations, Dib just settled for a random station that played popular songs throughout the decades.

Zim didn’t seem to mind this choice in the radio station, so Dib left it on as he drove the car.

Dib drove down the empty road taking the same turns and shortcuts that he would always take when driving home, thankfully for the both of them, Zim lived relatively close to Dib. That only being a few blocks away from his house.

By now they were halfway home, and thankfully the storm wasn’t nearly as bad as first reported it still would have been extremely dangerous for Zim to walk home, Dib didn’t even want to think about what might have happened if he had left at an earlier time.

Zim stayed completely silent as he looked out through the car window, this was mainly out of boredom and also so he wouldn’t just be awkwardly glaring at the adult sitting right next to him.

His view of the outside was slightly obscured by both the consistent rainfall that dripped down the car’s window, and that he was just a tad bit too short to fully lookout.

God Zim despised his height sometimes.

After a few more seconds of looking out through the window and finding nothing of interest Zim shifted his gaze from the outside towards the inside of the cramped vehicle, the still bored child looked around the rest of the car’s interior in a last-ditch effort to find anything of interest.

But it seemed like this was going to be an impossible task even for someone as amazing as Zim, no matter how much he tried to find something remote of interest it was still just an empty car with utterly nothing special about it.

It’s boring muted colors especially didn’t help with Zim’s lack of luster impression on the man’s car, almost everything about the vehicle’s interior brought a great discomfort to the boy.

But as Zim looked back up towards the windscreen he noticed something strange that hanging in the center of the windscreen, he must not have noticed it before he entered the vehicle but now that Zim had seen it he couldn’t keep his gaze off it.

Right there dangling in front of Zim were a few strange yet colorful charms dangling from the rearview mirror, these items swung back and forth as the vehicle drove down the street, strangely enough, this motion only made these items even more interesting.

Zim focused his full attention onto these dangling objects as they continued to sway back and forth until the car suddenly stopped at a red light. This sudden stop caused the hanging objects to stay still just long enough for the curious child to get a clearer look.

These unknown items were three minuscule charms with bright vibrant colors that stuck out from the dull and muted interior of the car.

The first one that Zim noticed was a charm that looked like a cartoon pig, it’s bright pink skin and large cartoonish eyes gave the stupid little charm a somewhat cute appearance. The next charm looked to be once that was modeled after a human skull, it wasn’t an anatomy correct skull since it was a rather cartoonish model just like the pig.

And the third and final charm that was slightly blocked from Zim’s view was a bright light green alien head with a large forehead and big black eyes that took most of its face.

For some strange reason, Zim found himself deeply involved with this specific charm above the others, maybe it was because the alien head looked rather amusing right next to the pink piggy charm or perhaps the only reason Zim somewhat liked that charm, in particular, was just because the small green alien head looked ridiculous.

Either way, Zim couldn’t help but smile at this little charm, thankfully it appeared that Dib hadn’t noticed Zim's current focus was on his few dangling charms as he was only paying attention to the road in front of him and nothing else.

Yet despite Zim finding a great amount of amusement from the charms this still didn’t rid the boy’s thoughts of the raging storm just outside of the small four-door car, and just like the previous times before, the roar of thunder sent a cold chill down Zim’s spine.

Zim’s entire body shivered as he was forced to listen to the booming sounds of thunder and rainfall, even with the radio blocking out the horrible storm ever so slightly it still wasn’t enough to help put Zim at ease.

The young boy couldn’t stand the loud bangs of thunder, he hated it more than anything else in the world, but what Zim despised the most was how much this storm had affected him.

This stupid storm completely terrified Zim, it made him feel like a pitiable baby who couldn’t even handle some simple rain. His mind was completely absorbed by the paranoid thoughts of Dib and what he thought about him at that moment.

He had seen Zim in a vulnerable situation, the boy had foolishly accepted his help when offered and worst of all. He had revealed several personal facts about himself to the man that he never told anyone else, Jesus, who knows what could be going through that deformed head of his.

“You okay?” Dib asked in a curious yet sympathetic tone, as he was fully aware that the storm was upsetting Zim even if he didn’t want to admit..

“O-of course I am.” Zim quickly answered back in an annoyed tone as he shifted his hoodie to block even more of his face from Dib’s curious gaze.

Another loud crash of thunder caused the small boy to jump in his seat and let a small audible gasp escape his lungs. This was then followed by a fit of frustration as Zim slammed his fist down on his seat. The tapping of the rainfall grew louder as the weather got even more hectic than when it had first started.

Dib could tell that Zim was quite uncomfortable, this was most likely due to the storm as it seemed that the boy didn’t enjoy the constant bangs of thunder.

“Are you okay?” Dib asked his voice filled with concern and worry.

At first, Zim refused to even turn his head let alone actually respond to his concerns, why the man even bothered talking in the first place Zim had no clue, but the child couldn’t help but think back to what Dib had said earlier that day.

“But I want you to know that I will never lie to you Zim, and I may not be fully able to prove it right away but right now I want you to take my word that I will never be dishonest with you.”

That little reminder had helped persuade Zim’s response to the man’s growing concerns.

Zim was going to regret this later on. “I hate the rain.” Zim spoke with a low grumble and still refused to look at the man simply out of embarrassment for what he had just admitted.

Despite this action Dib couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the child, Dib had always remembered how he’d always fear the rainstorms when he was much younger. He would jump every time he saw a bright strike of lightning or the loud booming sound of thunder, Dib always feared those the most.

“Yeah, I can’t say I’m a massive fan of it either.” Zim confusingly eyed his counselor, what did he possibly mean by that? He couldn’t honestly have been afraid of the storm too, could he?

But Zim’s thoughts were swiftly interrupted by another reassuring response from Dib, this time his tone was more upbeat and positive. “But don’t worry it’ll probably die down by tomorrow.”

Zim hoped that this would be the case, he honestly couldn’t handle having to deal with this horrendous storm for another day.

With a cross of his arms, Zim sighed with relief at this helpful bit of knowledge. “Good, the last thing that Zim wants is to be stuck in another horrible car ride with you.”

Dib smiled at that little comment from Zim, sure he was trying to be negative as per usual but Dib found Zim’s negativity to be oddly charming in a strange sense, maybe because it kind of reminded Dib of Gaz and how she would usually act, although Zim showed a lot more emotion than his sister they were genuinely the same when it came to be negative.

And so Dib responded in a more positive tone just like he would do with Gaz. “Aww come on it's not too bad, it’s better than walking home in the rain, wouldn’t you agree?” As much as Zim didn’t want to admit Dib did have a point, getting a lift home in his car was certainly better than walking home.

Hesitating for a second Zim answered the man with a slight nod in agreement before speaking out. “Yes, I suppose that’s… somewhat true, but don’t expect me to thank you for this.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to.” Dib reassures Zim with a slight wave of his hand.

But now that Zim was a bit more relaxed Dib decided that this was his chance to ask a question that he’s been wanting an answer since he started driving. “Zim, why didn’t your parents pick you up today?”

Dib silently waited for a response from the child, but Zim couldn’t answer Dib’s question, he didn’t want to either, so like the last time when Dib had asked him a similar question Zim got rather defensive.

“Wait a minute we’re not In your disgusting office Dib-beast, I don’t have to tell you anything!” Zim smirked in a pure show of confidence.

“Yes that’s true you don’t have to tell me anything, but you can still ask me some questions if you’d like.”  
Zim instantly perked up in his seat at this, it would be interesting to learn more information about the man and he hadn’t taken that opportunity earlier that day, So Zim decided that it would be smart for him to learn as much about Dib whenever he could.

“Very well Zim’s shall ask the questions for now, but I expect you to answer every single one.” The now excited young boy loudly proclaimed as he pointed towards Dib, at that point Zim was bursting with energy.

“Well like I said earlier I can’t answer every question, but I’ll try to the best of my ability.”

For a while Zim thought about just what he should even bother asking the man, there were a whole plethora of questions that Zim wanted answering, so many in fact that the boy honestly didn’t even know what to ask Dib first.

But the only thing that Zim could focus on at that point was the horrible stench that pledges the small interior of the car, he hadn’t seemed to notice this smell before, but now Zim couldn’t even think straight with that disgusting stench.

And that was when Zim knew exactly what he wanted to ask the annoying guidance counselor.

“My first question is, why does your car stink so bad?” The young boy bluntly stated in smug satisfaction.

Dib who was now in class completely shocked at this sudden statement quickly answered back in shock. “W-what, my car doesn’t stink Zim.” Dib proclaimed in a slightly embarrassed tone.

But Zim was quick to answer back. “Yes it does, it’s by far the most unbearable stench that I’ve ever had to endure in my life!” A wide smile was now plastered on Zim’s face, he knew what he was doing.

“Oh come on Zim, now you’re just being dramatic,” Dib said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“Zim is not being dramatic, and you still haven’t answered my question.”

“I don’t know, I think it might be this that’s causing the smell, maybe.” The man spoke as he used his free hand to reach out towards the rearview mirror and retrieve a flat piece of paper with an image of a flower printed on.

It appears that this was, in fact, the smell that Zim had complained about because the second Dib had moved it closer slightly toward Zim’s direction the boy instantly covered up his nose and swatted away the item.

“Get that thing away from me, it’s making me feel nauseous!” Zim loudly proclaimed as he shifted his whole body away from the cursed smell.

Dib tried his hardest to not break out into a mad fit of laughter at this amusing scene playing right beside him. “Zim it’s just an air freshener.” Zim didn’t even so much as blink; he was just trying to avoid the horrible smell as best as he could.

“If it’s making you feel sick then don’t worry, I’ll put it away.” And with that Dib opened up one of the cars many little compartments and dumped the air freshener inside.

Once the compartment was closed shut the distance smell of lavender had slowly but surely left the interior of the car. However, Zim was still quite cautious about the smell and he would only uncover his nose once he was sure that the horrible smell had completely gone.

Since Zim was still covering up his nose from the smell the young boy took in a large breath and sighed before turning around to the adult with an expression of pure irritation.

“Why would you even want something like that in such a cramped space, are you trying to kill Zim, is that your grand plan!” Zim yelled out as he suspiciously pointed a finger at Dib.

Putting aside Zim’s obscured statement and somewhat strange behavior Dib tried to at least answer him in the best way possible. “No, it’s just to make the car smell nice.”

“Well it does the exact opposite of that Dib-stink, never have one of those in the presence of Zim again,” Zim demanded as he finally uncovered his nose, and to his relief, the smell had gone just enough to make breathing in the car bearable again.

Rolling his eyes yet again at Zim antics Dib just decided to go along with it and not question this. “Deal.”

This seemed to be a good enough answer for Zim as he instantly calmed down and began to ask another question, almost like that whole event didn’t even happen.

“Good, now my next question is…”

“Um my next question is…” the boy stayed silent for a much longer time than Dib would have expected, he would have thought that Zim had hundreds of questions that he wanted to be answered, but it seemed that the boy was struggling to come up with at least one.

A few more minutes had passed with still no question from Zim, at this point, he was beginning to become severely frustrated at his inability to ask any kind of question.

And even with Dib being entirely focused on the road ahead, he decided to try and reassure Zim that he can take as long as he wants. “It’s okay Zim, take your time.”

“DO NOT INTERRUPT ZIM DIB-FILTH!” The boy screamed in annoyance at the man’s constant interruptions.  
Zim quickly shifted his gaze down at his feet in both Annoyance and to avoid looking at the stupid adult, as that would have just cause Zim to become even more irritated and annoyed.

He huffed and closed his eyes, in the darkness all Zim could hear was the loud tapping of rain and the constant swaying of the car’s windshield wipers as they attempted to wipe off the many droplets of water.

looking down at the floor of the car didn’t magically give Zim anything of interest, it was just an ordinary floor with a black small mat for his feet.

Looking at it a bit more, the boy was surprised to find that the floor was clean at least, Zim noticed that despite the few strange qualities of Dib’s car it was quite clean and well maintained, at least compared to the other car’s Zim has been in recently.

There wasn’t a single speck of dirt or even a weird mysterious stain to be seen, to be completely truthful Zim was quite impressed with the overall cleanliness of the car, it was much more than the boy had first expected. Hell, it even surpassed what Zim had wanted.

But of course, Zim wasn’t going to let the man know this fact of course not, he would just start to get cocky if he knew otherwise.

As the young boy observed the rest of the car’s interior, he noticed something rather strange down on the floor right next to his feet, it was partially obscured by the mat.

Zim cautiously looked over towards Dib just to make sure that he wasn’t looking at him, he slowly bent forward stretching his left arm down towards the mat while using his right arm to pull forward his seatbelt.

Dib was still focused on the road so he hadn’t the slightest clue on what Zim was doing, so with the boy in the clear, he made his move and fully bent down towards the floor where he pulled the mysterious item out from under the little black mat.

Right there in the curious boy’s hand was an old photograph that was dated a few years back, and on closer inspection, Zim found that it was indeed a family photo. There were three people in the picture, two boys and one girl, all of them were well dressed in sophisticated evening wear, intensively studying the small details of the photo Zim found a few strange details about the people in this picture.

In the center was a tall yet somewhat large man, this was their father Professor Membrane. He was still adored with his typical large goggles that completely obscured his eyes, even his suit was designed in a certain way where the collar completely covered over the lower part of his face, it was kind of like his lab coat in a similar way.

Looking past the adult male Zim’s eyes were met with the two small children who were standing in front of their father.  
On the left was a young girl with dark purple hair and an angry look permanently plastered on her face, this was most likely Dib- stinks sister, Zim would have to ask a few questions about her later on in the future.

And at last, the boy looked over towards Dib who was located on the right side of his father, Zim couldn’t hold back his smirk as even back the man was cursed with having a freakishly large head, hell it even looked worse when he was younger, making it all the more hilarious to Zim who was struggling to contain his laughter.

Thankfully Dib was still none the wiser on what the boy was doing as he decided to give Zim some time to think.

Focusing all of his attention back onto the photo Zim slightly smiled at the fact that Dib honestly hadn’t changed all that much since he was a child, his hair still had the same flipped back scythe, though it had gotten a little bit smaller he still had it regardless.

However, one detail that the child noticed right away was that Dib wasn’t wearing glasses anymore, at first Zim questioned if he was maybe just confusing things

With a small sigh, Zim asked his question to a still silent Dib. “My question is, why don’t you wear glasses anymore?”

How on earth did Zim know that? Was it just a random guess or did the child generally know about Dib’s glasses somehow?

“What? How did you even know about that?”

“This.” in Zim’s hand was a small photo from Dib’s childhood, he was around ten at the time when that photo was taken.

In the photo was both Dib, his younger sister Gaz and his father, it appeared to be a family photo as they were all dressed in formal wear. Dib had wondered how that photo ended up in his car of all places, but he could probably find that out later right now he needed to deal with this.

“So why don’t you wear glasses anymore? Do you no longer need them?” Zim asked again in a more demanding tone as he held the photo in plain view of Dib.

Oh dear god, he needed to stop this conversation now before Zim started to ask questions. “No I still need to wear glasses, but right now I’m wearing contacts instead.” Dib explained to Zim with a quick yet nervous smile.

This answer only seemed to confuse Zim even more, so he followed up his second question with another one. “Why are you wearing contacts instead of glasses, wouldn’t wearing glasses be much easier?”  
Dib instantly groaned to himself in annoyance. He knew where this was going and he didn’t want to go there.

Oh god, this talk again, Dib already explained this to almost everyone that he knew, and he didn’t want to go over this topic again. So Dib just decided to tell a little lie, and he just needed to hope that Zim wouldn’t be able to see through it.

So in a rushed tone, Dib tried to give Zim a quick response as to not raise any suspicion out of him. “Sometimes yes, but I just prefer to wear contacts that’s all.” Zim could tell that this wasn’t entirely true, just the way that Dib would speak about this certain topic and how he would try to avoid mentioning his glasses gave Zim a clear suspicion that he was being lied to by the adult.

Zim was a rather perceptive person especially for a child of his age, it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise for Dib when Zim had seen right through his lie yet again.

So the boy asked a rather blunt question that almost shocked Dib to his core. “Were you ashamed of wearing your glasses?”

“I-I…” at this point Dib knew that he wouldn’t be able to avoid this topic any longer, he couldn’t try to lie his way out of this situation, so he just decided to bite the bullet and answer with nothing but honesty. “Yes, sometimes.”

Now Zim was interested, this topic seemed to make the man rather uncomfortable that much wasn’t obvious from his tone and demeanor, so Zim decided that he should press for some answers. “Care to explain?”

“A few years ago I almost went through with having laser eye surgery.” It was just an accidental slip up on Dib’s part, but it was a slip up that left Zim with so many unanswered questions that he wanted answers to.

“What do you mean ‘almost’ why didn’t you go through with it?” Zim asked as he instantly leaned over towards Dib’s side of the car, he wanted to know every exact detail of what happened both out of a strange unexplainable need to learn more information about the man and also just out of pure curiosity.

Dib internally kicked himself for even bringing the glasses up, he didn’t want to answer any questions about this certain topic, god him and his big mouth it wasn’t bad enough to live through that embarrassing moment but to sit there and tell it to a child who was less than sympathetic towards him, just made Dib want to fling himself out of the moving car to avoid this unfortunate situation that he was now in.

But despite wanting to avoid this talk Dib decided that it was too late to turn back now, and even though there was a chance that Zim might use this insecurity against him later, he reluctantly began to speak about the most embarrassing experience he had ever lived through.

“A-at first I wanted to go through with it, believe me, I wanted too, I had just been waiting for the right opportunity to finally get it done,” Oh dear god he was talking about this, he was going to tell Zim what had happened.

He never told anyone about this before, his sister never really cared enough to even ask in the first place so she was never a concern for Dib, and his father, well he couldn’t even speak to his father how the day went let alone talk about his embarrassing secrets.

But he continued onwards with his story. “I had saved up the money, I went through my medical history with my doctor, I even made sure not to stare at any screens up until the day when I was about to have the surgery.”

The man’s face slightly shifted into a soft smile once he remembered just how excited he was to finally get the operation done, but that slight feeling of joy quickly vanished once he continued with his story. “But on the day when I was supposed to go through with the operation I just… froze,”

“For some reason, I just kept oh having these… awful thoughts and visions of the surgery going wrong.” This caught Zim’s attention, he almost felt as though he should try to stop the man from revealing any more as this just felt too personal for Dib to just randomly blurt out.

At first, Zim only wanted to know why he didn’t wear his glasses anymore, but the young boy who was completely wrapped with guilt had a good guess at why this was the case.

But it seemed like he was going to get that answer soon as the adult spoke up again and Zim sat in silence and listened. “I kept on imagining a laser burning right through my eyes, or the machine exploding and blinding me for life, and they just felt so… real.”

Those horrible nightmares that he was cursed with up until the day of the surgery. They almost felt more like visions warning him of danger rather than a simple nightmare, Dib remembered having a similar experience once on Halloween night when he was younger.

The nightmares were so vivid they felt so real as if they had already happened right before his very eyes, the distance sounds of his flesh slowly burning under the bright red laser the smell of smoke mixed with his burning skin filled the air, all of that had stayed with Dib even after many years had passed.

He still vividly remembers running out of the doctor's office without even giving them so much as a reason

A defeated sigh escaped Dib as he continued once more. “I know they do that kind of procedure every day, and I know that it’s probably one of the safest surgeries to have done… But I just couldn’t go through with it.”

“Yes it’s pretty pathetic, trust me I know.”

There was another long silent pause between the two, Dib was now burning red with embarrassment at recalling that unfortunate event, he had expected Zim to start laughing at his cowardly actions.

But what Zim said instead genuinely caught Dib by surprise. “I don’t think it’s that pathetic.” It took a second for Dib to fully process what had just been said, he expected a few witty insults and maybe even a laugh from Zim, but this was an unexpected response from him.

And the boy didn’t just stop with that, he spoke yet again while Dib held onto every single word that the young boy spoke. “It’s embarrassing, but Zim doesn’t think that it’s pathetic to be… concerned about one's safety.”

But just to stay face Zim quickly blurted out. “But of course the superior Zim would never be intimidated by a piece of machinery.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a really long chapter to write, sorry it took me so long.
> 
> I can’t really promise that the next chapter will be made quickly but I’ll try at least.
> 
> Thank you all for reading this story, I’m genuinely surprise at how well this fic has received


	7. Driving Through A Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dib drives Zim home and learns something new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off I want to apologize for the long wait on this chapter, this one chapter took me a ridiculous amount of time to finish, I was working on this part of the story around December, but sadly my family lost someone very important, and though that's not an excuse it's the main reason why I dropped the story for so long.
> 
> But now that I'm back into writing again I'm happy to say that I've improved my craft a good bit since the last chapter, so now that I've completed this chapter I'm going to work on rewriting the previous part along with working on chapter 8.
> 
> This will include fixing any spelling and grammar mistakes, and also adding a few extra scenes and details.
> 
> Again I want to say I'm sorry for such the long wait on this chapter, thank you all for reading my fanfic, I generally didn't expect to get this far.

By this point the sounds of the raging storm from the outside had completely disappeared from Zim’s mind, he was calm and without a worry, and shockingly he could almost be described as somewhat happy. Even if that seemed a bit far-fetched.

Eventually, the conversation went in the direction of Dib’s family and their current occupations, his father was already obvious so Zim didn’t bother asking about him, and Zim already knew about Dib’s current job despite how sad it was.

So Zim asked about the man’s sister since there would definitely be a wealth of information just waiting to be discovered, and the curious boy wanted to know all the details, so he asked. “What does your sister do Dib-stink?”

Dib smiled as the thought of his younger sister popped in his mind, he recalled her dark purple hair that barely changed throughout the years and the way she would almost never smile unless it was at someone’s suffering.

It was genuinely strange Gaz hadn’t changed that much from when she was a child. She still had her love of pizza and video games, that much hasn't changed over the years. But despite this Dib had to admit that his sister had become a little bit more supportive of him and his choices in life as they grew up.

“She works at this old gaming store right now, but she’s attending college for programming.” Dib answered.

“Programming?” Zim stated back a tad bit confused at this new bit of information. 

“Yeah, you know making video games and such.” Dib quickly answered back.

Zim was slightly aggravated by that remark, of course, he knew what programming was he wasn’t born yesterday, and so with that Zim was rather quick to snap back at the stupid adult. “I know what programming is Dib-worm! I was just confused that it wasn’t something to do with science.”

That one caught the man off guard. “What makes you think that?”

Wasn’t it obvious? why wouldn’t Zim think that heck he’d be a fool not to jump to that conclusion right away, although Dib did work as a counselor and entirely based on his intelligence it was clear that he wasn’t going to be a scientist any time soon?

But regardless of Zim’s thoughts, he stated his confusion to Dib. “Your father is one of the greatest scientists known to mankind, if he had children it would be foolish not to assume that they would have an interest in science or at least something of that nature.” 

Dib wasn’t particularly annoyed with this statement from Zim he was used to it by now, and at the very least Zim was genuinely asking this out of curiosity and not out of any ill will, like many others, so Dib had no problem with giving him an answer. 

“Yes that’s true, but not everyone likes to follow in the footsteps of their parents, myself and Gaz like to do our own thing, I guess you can say we like to march to the beat of our own drum.”

Zim looked at the man in complete perplexion once he had mentioned an instrument of all things, what the hell did a drum have to do with this conversation? 

And of course, wanting an immediate answer to this the boy asked him. “You have a drum?” That remark almost instantly made Dib laugh out in amusement which only further confused Zim.

It was only once Zim heard the man’s explanation that he fully understood what Dib had meant by that strange statement. “It’s an expression Zim.”

“Zim knew this, I was just simply testing you!” came his automatic response. His brain hadn’t even fully recovered before his mouth quickly spat out that terrible lie to stay face, the boy then swiftly turned his body away from Dib with an annoyed huff.

A smirk made its way on Dib’s face as he continued to snicker to himself much to Zim obvious dismay. And despite Zim‘s clearly aggravated state Dib just couldn’t stop himself from making a sarcastic remark to his response. “Oh well did I pass?”

Zim crossed his arms and scoffed as he still faced away from the adult, by now his embarrassment had slowly been replaced with bold arrogance. 

“Only slightly, one more second and you would have failed miserably,” Zim stated as he turned to face the adult who by this point was trying to contain his amusement.

“Well, I definitely couldn’t let that happen now could I?”

“No, not unless you wanted to make an absolute fool out of yourself yet again.” Zim called out with a sly smirk. 

After that brief exchange, the vehicle soon fell into silence as the two boys decided to stop talking, now the only noise to break the silence was the barely audible hum of the car’s radio and the repetitive banging of the rain on the vehicle's roof.

While Zim sat in his seat, a new thought popped into his mind, well new wasn’t the right way to describe the specific thought, more like… a recurring thought, one that Zim had been constantly thinking about once he had learned who Dib’s father was.

And though there was the slight possibility that asking this question might just be overstepping it just a bit, Zim decided to ask it regardless.

“Do you think you’ll ever go into science?” Zim asked Dib while making sure not to look at him.

Dib was silent for a brief moment, what brought on this question? Sure it wasn’t the first he was asked this, whenever he talked to anyone the first thing they’d mentioned was if he’d ever consider going back into science. 

Most of the time Dib would just give a swift answer and leave it at that, though there were a few occasions where certain individuals would use that question as an opportunity to ridicule him. And though Dib would prefer to avoid the question altogether, he knew that Zim wouldn’t stop until he got an answer. 

“I’m not entirely sure, I like the job that I have already, so I think I’m just gonna stick with this.”

“Do you like science?”

“Well… somewhat, I used to be into it when I was younger, but now I’m not interested in the topic anymore.”

“Why?” Zim asked in complete bewilderment.

Did Zim not know why? It was universally known why the man had quit science, hell all one needed to do was just simply search up his name and they would receive a plethora of information on him, so why didn’t Zim seem to know anything about him?

Zim’s reaction just confused the man further, was he just simply pretending not to know? It could be a possibility but Dib wasn’t entirely sure, he could always ask him, no, that would be a horrible idea, he’d just play it safe and answer any question that Zim had. 

“I just don’t care for it anymore.” It seems like that answer was good enough for Zim because he didn’t have anything else to say after that, instead he turned his interest back to the outside. 

Even if Dib wanted to go back into science there was no chance that would ever happen, after all the years of burning connections and destroying his reputation, there wasn’t a single lab in the world that would take him.

But, there always was his father.

His father had offered many times to hire Dib as the main researcher in one of the smaller subdivision of his lab, but each time the man would offer Dib a spot he would turn it down, again and again, and his father never understood why he was rejecting these amazing opportunities that any other scientist would kill for.

But despite everything in his mind telling him to take the job, Dib just couldn’t bring himself to accept it, he couldn’t just take it, he didn't want to be known as the person who only got the job, not because of his talent but because his father just so happened to run the place.

Christ, he could already imagine the headlines now ‘Professor Membrane hires crazy son’ no way was he going to put himself in the spotlight again, once was good enough. Besides he was doing perfectly fine right now, well okay, many that was a bit of a stretch, but he was doing okay, and that was just fine. 

___________________

Another large gust of wind blew several leaves right across the street where they landed on the car’s windscreen, the rain had suddenly intensified over the last few minutes. That much was clear by the way the trees violently swayed back and forth that the winds had only gotten stronger as the seconds ticked by.

The rain was coming down heavier and in much larger frequency spilling in torrents and causing rapidly filling puddles that littered the roads and sidewalks. Small branches were ripped right off of the tall row of trees where they slammed down on the road ahead of them.

At this point, Dib was beginning to wonder if this storm might last a bit longer than just one day.

As the car drove down the empty road the red glow of a nearby traffic light brought the vehicle to a complete stop, the bright vibrant glow of the light cast a dark shade of red over the front of the car practically bathing both Dib and Zim in this deeply intense hue.

The large drops of rain slowly ran down the windshield like fresh blood leaking from an open wound, this image was unnerving yet it was almost… mesmerizing in a kind of gruesome way that Zim couldn’t even begin to comprehend. 

The vehicle’s engine softly hummed while Zim silently sat in his seat as he stared off into the distance. Though his vision was partially obscured by both the large droplets of water and the constant swaying of the windshield wipers.

Constantly swaying back and forth in the same repetitive manner still making that irritating squeaking as a result, Zim would always squirm uncomfortably whenever he heard that dreadful sound graze his ears. 

After a brief moment, the intense red hue was quickly changed into a warmer yellow and then to a bright vibrant green that finally allowed Dib to continue his drive down the street.

While Zim peered out from the window he could notice several different landmarks that he would come across whenever he walked home.

The car drove past the familiar scenery Zim had managed to catch a quick glimpse of the dark alleyway that he would always use as a quick shortcut while walking home, after that Zim then spotted the large ice cream truck parked a little ways back. And most notably the large metal fence with that ugly rabid dog that would always try to attack Zim whenever he walked by, Zim smiled widely knowing that filthy mutt was getting bombarded with rain, he just wished he could see the look on its face.

Ignoring his great disdain for that wild beast of a dog Zim’s attention soon shifted focus on the empty street, despite Zim’s great dislike for the rain he had to admit he always found it fascinating at just how much his environment would always change depending on the weather.

It genuinely felt like the entire world around them had transformed whenever it rained, every surface was much darker in color along with everything else being more shiny and reflective due to the rain. 

But the most notable of changes was that the once heavily populated streets were seemingly abandoned by almost every living creature, say for a few small rats and birds that struggled with maneuvering past the tough winds and rainfall.

At this point they were both almost at their destination, Zim was generally relieved to find out that this dreaded car ride was almost over, now he could finally begin to put this whole horrible situation behind him.

And just as the vehicle slowly pulled into Zim’s neighborhood, the familiar structures of the surrounding houses gave the young boy an immense feeling of relief because now he knew that it was almost over, just a few more moments and this horrible experience would finally be over.

Zim was practically jumping in his seat for the car to come to a full stop so he could leap out and run home, Dib probably wouldn’t mind this all that much, the sooner he was out of the man’s hair the better. That's what Zim had expected, rather that’s what Zim knew.

At long last had Zim finally reached his neighborhood, soon this whole horrible day would be over and done with. Dib then parked the vehicle on a nearby sidewalk and turned off the engine with a simple press of a button.

Zim looked out from the slightly fogged-up window to see that he was now only a few blocks away from his house, god he couldn’t wait to start working on his next project.

His parents weren’t going to be home until midnight so he would have the whole house to himself like usual.

Well there was still Gir, and he might pose as a bit of a distraction for Zim since he would be stuck in the house due to the rain, but Zim could always just give his trusty pet a random squeaky toy, that would distract his dog for a good few hours at least. 

Either that or he could always turn on the ‘The angry monkey show’ that always seemed to Gir off his back a while, so that’s what Zim would probably do once he made his way home. So wanting to waste no time Zim unbuckled his seatbelt and reached out for the car door’s handle, his gloved hand could slightly feel the cold metal as he gripped the handle and pulled it forward.

And with the faint sound of a click, the car’s door opened, allowing in both the cold winds and the few small splashes of the heavy rainfall. At that moment Zim shifted his body forward and placed his right leg outside of the car and onto the pavement.

But just before Zim could fully step out of the car and begin to make his way home he was abruptly stopped by Dib who quickly placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Wait, Zim, where are you going?”

The young child quickly tore his eyes away from the random spot outside and back towards the adult who was now looking at him in pure confusion.

“I’m going home, isn’t that obvious Dib-stink?” Zim stated straightforwardly as he swiftly swatted the man’s hand off his shoulder in annoyance. Dib decided to ignore that rather rude action and instead spoke up once again. “No you don’t need to, I can drop you off at your house.”

Zim just simply sighed as a response. “I can walk the rest of the way, it’s not that far.”

But Dib wouldn’t let up as he wasn’t going to let Zim walk the rest of the way, especially not now since the weather had only gotten worse since he had started this drive. “Zim it’s still raining, I can’t just let you walk home.”

“I don’t care, I want to walk the rest of the way.” He said firmly.

The man was clearly in a difficult position here, he couldn’t just let Zim walk home alone in the rain, sure he did claim that his house was nearby but Dib didn’t know if that wasn’t just a lie. And he couldn’t just let Zim go on a random claim that he didn’t even know was true or not. 

He couldn’t just let Zim walk the rest of the way home, but he also couldn’t just keep him in his car. Dib was stuck and with no clue of what to do in this situation, but Dib knew that he could at least try to reason with Zim, he was a rather smart kid, so hopefully, he would agree to answer a few more questions. 

“Hey, how far away is your house anyway?”

Zim just wanted to leave as quickly as humanly possible, so instead of trying to avoid the topic, he just answered the man’s seemingly innocent question still with a bit of anger in his tone. “It’s only a ten-minute walk.”

But what Zim had just done was unknowingly proved Dib’s point, and so the man answered back. “If it’s that short, then there shouldn’t be a problem to get a lift.” 

Zim had just realized his terrible mistake and tried to think of something to say, but there wasn’t anything he could do to dig himself out of this hole, Zim was humiliated, how could he have been so stupid? Christ, he should have just avoided the question.

The boy’s once irritated expression was soon replaced with a look that was more… vulnerable than the usual expressions that were expected from Zim. “Why are you being so persistent with this?” he eventually asked the adult with what could be described as an exhausted tone.

“Zim, I can just let you walk home in the rain regardless of how short that walk might be, it’s dangerous and you don’t know what might happen.” Zim scoffed at that absurd warning, what could happen? At worst he’d just get wet or attacked by a dog, it was honestly ridiculous how dramatic adults can be.

Yet even though he was greatly annoyed by the man’s stupid worries, Zim just couldn’t find that much anger in him, maybe it was because he was tired and just didn’t have the energy to scream at that moment, yet maybe a small part of him actually didn’t want to yell at Dib.

“I won’t say anything, nobody will know.” The boy promised with a low groan, maybe if he attempted to reason with the man he’d be more successful.

“I would know.” And that was all Zim needed to hear to know that he wasn’t going to walk the rest of the way home, Zim knew that he couldn’t convince the stupid adult to change his mind, sure he could always jump out of the car and run the rest of the way home, but dealing with the rain was something that Zim really didn’t want to be bothered with.

And maybe the stupid man had a good point.

So with no other option for him to choose from he slouched back before he defeatedly stated. “Fine, but you’re not parking outside of my house, you can park next to one of the smelly neighbors instead.”

Dib sighed with relief, now that this problem was finally dealt with he could continue his drive. “Okay, that seems fair.”

“Good, you drive and I’ll tell you where you need to go.” Zim sat back in his chair and slightly shifted his body up just enough so that he could see out of the vehicle’s windshield. 

The car slowly drove past several similar looking houses as Dib silently sat in his seat waiting for any directions from Zim, but since the man hadn’t heard anything from the boy he just assumed that he was heading in the right direction, and so Dib drove straight past a left turn and continued down the road.

It was only then Zim decided to give the man some direction.

“We just passed a turn back there.” Zim said with a cheeky grin as he told Dib whose only reaction was a roll of his eyes and slowly turned the car around only to drive back up to the missed turn.

____________________

After several more purposeful misdirections from a mischievous Zim, Dib had finally managed to find the boy’s home, and just like he had promised Dib made sure to park the car outside of a neighbor's house as to not enrage the child yet again for that day. 

“Looks like we’re here.” Dib exclaimed, he turned off the vehicle’s ignition.

“Finally, it took you long enough Dib-stink.” Zim stated while he swiftly unbuckled his seatbelt and tossed it aside.

“Well, we could have gotten here faster if you gave me the right directions.”

Zim just rolled his eyes. “Please spare Zim from your terrible excuses, you're just an awful driver, simple as that.”

Dib decided to let that one slide, though he would need to mention Zim’s constant insults, but that could wait for another day.

“So, am I allowed to go now?” Zim asked.

“O-Oh, right, sorry about that.” With a swift press of a button, Dib unlocked the car with a click.

Dib stared out of the car’s windshield right down towards Zim’s house, since the vehicle was parked a good few feet away he was able to spot a good amount of detail.

The house was a unique looking structure, though his house was particularly ‘normal’ either, but he would be lying if said he’d seen a house like Zim’s.

The house was somewhat small and placed in between two large buildings that towered over the structure, another noticeable characteristic of Zim’s house was its choice of color, the walls of the house were painted a bright vibrant green along with a matching roof that was painted purple. And though Dib couldn’t quite tell from his angle, he assumed that he spotted a satellite on the roof, but because of the angle he was at Dib wasn’t quite sure of this fact.

In short Zim’s house was interesting, his parents had rather interesting taste in home decorating, Dib could only wonder what the interior looked like. 

While Dib wondered about a few more details of Zim’s house, he noticed something drew his attention away from the house’s appearance, and that was the lack of any cars in the driveway. 

There weren’t any cars parked in the driveway or anywhere near the house, so based off of this neither one of Zim’s parents were home, Dib looked over at Zim who by this point was putting on his backpack and getting ready to prepare himself for the cold rain

And once Dib had seen this the man’s mind snapped back to the one question that he had been begging to ask since he had found Zim, but despite this Dib just couldn’t stop that voice telling him not to get involved.

‘Just drop it, don’t say anything it’s none of your business.’ but once he heard the click of the car door his mouth just moved on its own.

Before the man could even react he asked. “Zim, why didn’t your parents pick you up today?” Zim narrowed his eyes and immediately pulled his hand away from the car door’s handle. For that point in time, the only sound that grazed Dib’s ears was the harsh rainfall from the outside.

Dib could feel Zim's eyes glaring at him, by this point the child was probably thinking up some kind of new creative insult to call him, but the boy’s retaliation was taking significantly longer than usual, and that gave Dib a huge deal of confusion.

The frustrated child was at a loss of what to even say, why did the adult keep on asking these stupid questions? Did he just like enraging him or was he that stupid? Zim had no idea, he didn’t know what the man was planning or why he asked him about his parents, what did they have to do with this? 

Zim glanced back towards the car door that was left slightly ajar, he could still escape, he could still run out, then he wouldn’t have to answer the man’s stupid question, yet despite this chance for Zim to escape, he didn’t take it, he sat there and didn’t move.

So unfortunately for Zim, he had no clear way to avoid the topic about his parents, so Zim just decided to bite the bullet and sputter out a response that even he himself found to be embarrassing. “… they were both too busy today.” he answered with a small bit of reluctance just like the last time he had mentioned his parents.

“Too… busy?” the man repeated to himself much to Zim’s annoyance.

“Yes, that’s what I said,” Zim insisted, “They were both busy with work, what’s wrong with that?” Zim didn’t understand the man’s confusion, so his parents were working that day. There wasn’t anything wrong with that so why the confusion?

Dib could visibly see Zim getting upset, it was clear that mentioning his parents might cause him a great deal of discomfort so Dib decided to quickly change the subject. “I see, well why didn’t you walk home with your friends?”

Zim didn’t care much for that pitiful attempt to change the conversation, but it was at least a way to avoid any more difficult questions about his family, not that he had anything to hide of course. But out of everything that the man could have mentioned why did it have to be about friends? Zim just knew that this would only be an irritating conversation like usual.

“I don’t have any friends.” Zim quietly stated in a defensive tone that could almost be described as somewhat hurt.

“What?” Dib asked back with a small tinge of confusion in his tone.

“I don’t have any friends, actually listen when I speak you fool!” Christ, what part was he not understanding exactly? so he didn’t have any friends, big deal, Zim already knew that he was fine by himself, so why bother trying to make friends?

But even with Zim desperately trying to convince himself that, he still couldn’t quite hide the hurt in his eyes whenever he thought about that certain topic.

And Dib could see that hurt clear as day. “I’m sorry Zim, I know it can be hard making friends.”

“Oh please, Zim doesn’t need your pity, I’m perfectly fine on my own.” 

And Zim continued once more to Dib. “Besides, no one in my class even likes me, so there's no point in trying.” It almost looked like the young boy was hurt about that statement.

Dib was instantly brought back to thoughts of his childhood and how he could never hang onto a friend for that long, he remembered the names and mockery from his classmates over the years and he couldn't stand imagining Zim going through that same experience.

While sure the adult knew that times had changed over the many years since he was a child, and sure maybe kids today were a little more accepting of other people’s differences, but Dib knew from experience that kids could be cruel. 

“Have they ever said that before?” 

Zim crossed his arms “They don’t need to say it, I already know from how those meat sacks act that they all despise Zim.” Zim didn’t want to admit it but he was already well aware of what his classmates thought of him, sure half of the time he would just play dumb and act as if he didn’t know any better.

And just adding further to Zim’s frustration, the big-headed adult still wouldn’t let this topic go, it was almost like Dib had a special talent for annoying him specifically. “Well, I don’t believe that I think you should try to talk to them.”

Zim was appalled by that suggestion, and he made it clear to the man that he didn’t want to even entertain the idea. “I will do no such thing, Zim doesn’t have to make friends with anyone, especially not those stupid worms!”

“Come on Zim I think-”

“NO!” By this point Zim was fuming with anger at the foolish adult and his idiotic suggestions, he wasn’t going to even entertain this stupid idea, no he wasn’t going to be made a fool of in front of those smelly pigs, not again.

Okay, it was clear that this was a bit of a touchy subject for Zim, some he might have to change his tactics a bit. Dib thought for a good while as he tried to create a deal that Zim would agree with. Eventually, Dib came up with an idea so great that Zim would never reject it. “ How about we make a deal?”

“Another one.” Zim’s irritation was quite clear after he said that, christ this fool really can’t think of anything new, can he?

Nevertheless, Dib wasn’t deterred by Zim’s negative response so he proudly stated. “Yes another deal, but trust me this one is special.” Zim was slightly intrigued by this, sure he still didn’t want to do it, but he might as well hear what the man was willing to offer.

“I want you to at least attempt and talk with one of your classmates.” Within a second Zim had completely lost all interest with this deal, but Dib was quick to speak up again. “You don’t have to become friends, all I want is for you to talk to them,” 

“And if you can at least talk to one classmate then I’ll give you the secret treat as a reward.” Zim perked up once he found out that there was a reward involved with this horrible task. But there was another word attached to that statement that the young boy couldn’t stand, that one word being secret.

God Zim hated secrets and even more than he hated interacting with his stupid classmates, he needed to know if this reward was even worth the effort that he was putting in. “What’s this ‘special reward’ tell me!” Zim demanded an answer from the adult.

But the stubborn man wouldn’t budge. “Sorry, you’ll just have to wait until this task is complete.” Zim groaned in frustration as a response to the man’s unwillingness to give him the answer that he wanted.

He hated this whole thing, the last time he fell for a stupid prize was with that dreaded PooDog contest, god how he hated that smelly sneaky dog and his disgusting sawdust filled candy bars, no way was he going through that nightmare again.

Zim huffed in annoyance while he slouched back in his seat, stupid Dib-stink who the hell was he to keep secrets from the mighty Zim, he should just refuse to partake in this stupid task, it probably wouldn’t even be worth it in the end.

No, not probably, definitely, it definitely wouldn’t be worth it, but… there was still that slight chance that this supposed ‘special reward’ might be worth the effort. But after Zim had thought about it for a moment he realized that this wasn’t some stupid contest to raise money for the skool, this was a personal challenge given to him.

Sure it was still from that moron of a guidance counselor, but a challenge is a challenge regardless of who gives it, and while Zim would have greatly preferred a different challenge he had to admit he couldn’t turn down a chance to prove his greatness to this moron. 

While Zim was a little bit more accepting of this task, he still needed a bit more information, so he looked up towards Dib and asked. “How much time will I have to complete this task?”

“There’s no time limit on this one, you can take as long as you need,” Well, that fact was appreciated, at least Zim could take his time with this task. “But,” Dib quickly spoke up. “The longer you take, the more time you’ll have to wait for your reward.”

“Fine but if I want to end this pathetic little task then we’re stopping.”

“That’s perfectly fine by me.” Dib spoke as he raised his right hand. “And I expect the truth Zim, I won’t accept any lies or tricks.” A small childish huff escaped Zim's lips. “How dare you stink- head, Zim never lies.”

_________________

“Well, filthy Dib-stink this journey has been slightly less terrible than I had first expected.” Zim said with a slight smile, even though he would have preferred to avoid this entire situation altogether, he had to admit that it was actually… nice to avoid walking home in the rain.

“I’m glad.” Dib answered.

“Oh, but before you go,” as the man spoke he was cut off as he reached over towards the backseat of the car, Zim could hear the faint sounds of Dib as he searched through the back seat.

What’s he looking for? Probably something stupid that would make the boy roll his eyes, Zim thought as he tried to guess just what Dib was going to pull out. Yet before Zim could question this he was met with a bright purple umbrella that Dib had pulled out from the back seat, he then handed the item to Zim. “Take this with you.”

Zim was instantly enthralled with the item that was being offered, but he was still quite suspicious of the man’s intentions, what was he playing at?

He wasn’t going to take the umbrella, it wasn’t even his, he couldn’t just take something that wasn’t his, it didn’t feel right to Zim. But Dib wasn’t going to let up anytime soon and the young child knew that he couldn’t easily avoid the man’s offer. 

Dib could see the slight hesitation in Zim’s eyes. “Zim it’s okay, I don’t need it anyway so you can keep it for when it rains again.” Dib stated again as he attempted to offer the boy his umbrella yet again. 

Zim looked down at the umbrella that was still held in Dib’s hand, by the look of the material it wasn’t a cheap item, that much was already obvious based on its appearance.

The pole was made of a shiny strong metal along with a thick plastic cup handle that was an appealing dark purple that made Zim’s eyes widen, he had to admit it wasn’t some cheap piece of garbage that was being passed onto him, it was something of pure quality.

But that fact only made Zim wonder why Dib was so hesitant to give it away?

From what Zim understood most people wouldn’t be so willing to give away their nice things just like that without so much as a second thought, maybe there was a defect with the item? But taking a quick glimpse back towards the lashing rain had only made the man’s offer even more enticing, but Zim couldn’t just take the umbrella from him, could he? No, it wasn’t his so he wouldn’t accept it.

However, just like the offer of a lift Zim eventually took it, he quickly snatched the umbrella out of Dib’s hand as he made his best attempt to avoid eye contact. “Very well Dib-beast Zim shall accept this as much needed protection from the rain, but don’t expect me to return the favor.” 

“Don’t worry,” Dib explained with a wave of his hand. “There’s no need for that.”

Now with the umbrella in his hand, Zim shifted his body over towards the passenger door. Zim grabbed a hold of the door’s handle once again and with a faint click the car’s door was effortlessly pushed open.

And now without anything to stop Zim he stepped out from the warm interior of the car and out onto the cold rainy street, within a matter of seconds, Zim could feel his skin turn cold as the winds blew by and rain pelted him.

His small quiff of hair was quickly made into a mess as the strong winds effortlessly blew the boy’s hair around.

Zim opened up his newly gifted umbrella and quickly shielded his body from the harsh rainfall, the young boy smiled with satisfaction at the umbrella’s usefulness. Sure it didn’t really help him with the cold wind, but the rain was mostly out of his way and that much was highly appreciated.

And though Dib would have highly preferred driving Zim the rest of the way he was at least glad that now the boy had something to keep him protected from the weather.

“Now head straight home, and don’t talk to anyone who you don’t know okay.” Jesus Dib felt stupid after saying that, especially since it wasn’t that long of a walk for Zim. And even if Dib was probably just letting his imagination get the better of him, he decided to give the boy just one more warning. “And Zim,”

“Just… be careful, okay.”

The young boy silently stood there in the pouring rain unsure of how he should even respond to a request like that, but eventually, Zim just gave that man his usual automated response, yet at this moment Zim came across as more surprised rather than bored. 

And after Zim nervously shifted his gaze from the man he tightly clenched the handle of the umbrella as he tried to come up with some kind of response, he wasn’t going to respond to that right?

But seemingly out of nowhere Zim quickly found himself nodding in response before he subconsciously spoke up with a nervous tone that Dib could notice. “Yeah… sure.”

So with nothing more to say Zim closed the passenger side door and turned his back to Dib, he then proceeded to walk down the path in the direction to his house making sure not to step in any large puddles on the way.

As Dib watched on from his parked car he could see the small figure of Zim slightly blur out of focus as he walked further away from the car, and with the large drops of rain combined with the thick fog on the windshield, it made it nearly impossible to see the young boy.

The only thing that Dib could fully make out in the distance was the blurred pink of Zim’s hoodie. And once Zim had turned into his house he had completely disappeared from the man’s sight.

Dib’s vehicle had remained parked for a few extra moments as he silently stared out the window, And after a brief period of thought, Dib reluctantly started up the car and began to drive back home.


	8. Trying To Make A Friend Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dib goes through his typical day at work as he tries to understand Zim's problems, and Zim tries his best to avoid Dib's questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, it's definitely been a while since my last post, but I'm happy to say that I have a new chapter for you all, sorry for the wait but I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Today was just an ordinary day for Dib just like any other, he woke up around 7 a.m. got dressed in his typical attire, that being his blue shirt, black jeans, and to complete his attire he got his favorite striped black tie, Dib would go down to the kitchen, grab a quick slice of bread and a cup of coffee before he’d get in his car and drive to work where he would spend the early part of his day hold up in the teacher’s lounge as he tries to avoid any kind of small talk with his other coworkers, especially with Mr. Elliot who had to be the most talkative one of his coworkers.

And sure the man was pleasant enough, but he was just so… draining to be around, especially compared to everyone else who worked in the Skool, 

But today especially it seems almost impossible for Dib to avoid Mr. Elliot. When he parks in the staff parking lot where he was getting out of his car that was suspiciously parked right next to Dib, and a few minutes later Dib spots him again in the hallway, and then in the staff bathroom, and of course once Dib had managed to escape into the teacher's lounge who did he happen to run into.

Mr. Elliot.

“Morning Dib!” Dib groaned under his breath as he heard the overly cheerful man make his way over towards him. Dib hoped that he’d be able to avoid Elliot for at least one single day, but it seems like that hope was just as fake as one of those ridiculous ghost stories.

Knowing that he couldn’t avoid this conversation with Mr. Elliot, Dib took a deep breath and turned around with a fake smile plastered on his face along with an equally fake tone of surprise. “Elliot, it’s good to see you!”

Elliot smiled. “Gosh, just what are the chances of seeing you here!” Oh god, Dib already knew that this conversation was going to be a struggle to get through. But for now, Dib would hold his tongue and just bare through this talk.

“Yeah, chances, I’d call it that.” Dib’s tone was strained as he was barely able to keep up a smile at this point, but luckily for him, Mr. Elliot hadn’t seemed to pick up on any indication that Dib didn’t want to talk to him, but picking up on subtle social cues wasn’t a known skill of Mr. Elliot. He was just as clueless now as he was when teaching Gaz in his class all those years ago.

When Dib thought of it, Mr. Elliot was still the same as when he was attending Skool all those years ago, the man was still adorned in his brown striped sweater vet and light blue shirt, along with thick glasses that seemed to be almost stapled to his face. In all honesty, the only slight change that Dib could spot were the few wrinkles on his face and his receding hairline that was only becoming more distracting by the day. 

“So, have you been up to anything recently?” Mr. Elliot asked in his usual cheerful tone. Even though Dib would rather be talking to anyone else right now, he had to admit that the man wasn’t quite as annoying this day. So he just simply answered with no roll of his eyes or annoyed groan. “Uh, no not really, just trying to make it through the day.”

“Aww, so no ghost hunting I see.” And there it was, the main reason why Dib couldn’t stand talking with Mr. Elliot, those stupid, infuriating jokes about his past. That had to be the main reason why Dib couldn’t stand being around this blonde-haired fool as Zim would often describe.

Christ Dib was used to others talking about his less than appealing past, it was expected at this point. He was able to get past the insults and names, that was easy, it was expected. But this fake supportive bullshit got under his skin like an army of maggots trying to crawl into an open wound. He knew what people thought about him already, he knew what they were going to say, so it just annoyed Dib beyond all whenever someone would try to talk down to him like he was some toddler.

“No… there’s been no ghost hunting.” Dib was just trying to keep it together, however, despite the man’s best efforts he couldn’t control his tone as it drastically changed from one that was neutral and calm to one that was only growing in anger the longer he was around his moron of a coworker. 

The still oblivious man just laughed thinking that Dib was simply playing along with his joke since he was incapable to pick up on Dib’s obvious contempt. “Ha, yeah, that’s definitely for the best. It’s good to see that you’ve made something for yourself.”

Dib knew that it wouldn’t be a good look for him to lose temper and yell at his coworker, despite how much Dib really wanted to do that. So the still frustrated man kept his composure and responded to Mr. Elliot. “Yeah, I’m glad all that stuff is behind me now.”

“It’s good you moved onto a real career, which is great because most people would have thought that you’d just be locked up in a-”

Honestly, at that moment Dib had felt just like his sister whenever someone was crazy enough to cross her in any way, Dib couldn’t quite explain how he did it, but he managed to pull off her distinctive look whenever she would threaten to ‘destroy’ him. And it appears that Mr. Elliot sensed that unspoken threat from the man as he was nothing but quick to backpedal from that comment, and good for him.

“Okay, I dug a hole there, climbing out now.” a clearly nervous Elliot wiped his forehead and shifted his gaze away from Dib who was now ignoring the man altogether.

And even though Elliot could easily walk away from this awkward situation, he instead decided to see this horrible conversation through. “So anyway, kudos on improving for the better!” he quickly added in a sad attempt to salvage what little he could. 

However before Elliot could try to continue this conversation, Dib decided that he was done and made his exit only quickly calling back. “Nice talking to you Elliot, but I gotta get going.”

“Oh, yeah, I’ll talk to you later, tell Gaz I said hi!” Mr. Elliot called back with a dopey smile and wave.

Dib simply groaned under his breath as he pulled the door open. “Yeah, I’ll… do that.” And with that said Dib left the breakroom before the annoying fool could try to continue that awful conversation any further.

————————

After Dib made his exit from the teacher’s lounge he spent the rest of the day hold up in his office where he’d mostly just help out with any student who was going through a rough time, thankfully almost every student that went to Dib’s office didn’t seem to have any major issues. Just simple problems such as being stressed about an upcoming test, or just misbehaving in class one too many times, honestly it wasn’t that much different from when Dib was a child.

And of course, once Zim would enter the man’s office for his weekly meeting the rest of Dib’s day would start in an almost jarring breakneck speed as the man would quickly be bombarded with question after question from Zim who was both passionate and somewhat inconsiderate, but honestly, at this point, it wasn’t much of a bother for Dib, he was just glad to see Zim was more willing to talk.

Sure they still haven’t fully addressed any of the problems that brought Zim here just yet, but still, Dib was making some progress regardless of how slow that might be.

Dib laughed as he heard another strange insult from Zim, and sure the joke was directed at his head like most of the boy’s jokes. “Okay that’s enough questions about my head, I think we should move this discussion to a different topic.” 

“Fine, what should we discuss now?” Zim asked with a less than enthusiastic tone. “Well,” Dib began to speak, “I think we should discuss your tendency to yell at others.”

Sure Zim’s tendency to yell wasn’t the biggest problem in the world, but it was one of the factors in why he was called up to Dib’s office in the first place. Dib had heard from several of Zim’s teachers that he had a history of yelling at other students and especially at teachers.

Zim just simply scoffed at that statement from the man, he ‘yells’ that was just obscured, ridiculous even. “Oh please, Zim doesn’t ‘yell’ you just have overly sensitive ears.” Dib let out a chuckle which caused Zim much annoyance, first Dib had the nerve to say he yells, and now he’s laughing to his face. Dib’s gotten a whole lot cockier over these past weeks, and Zim wasn’t sure if he liked this very much.

Dib slightly adjusted in his seat to a more relaxed position as he let out another hushed laugh. “I don’t know about that Zim, I’ve heard a few others say the same thing.” Once Zim had heard the fact a wave of anger quickly washed over him, and before Zim even knew it he was demanding an answer from the man.

“Who said it?!” Zim loudly snapped as he demanded a response from Dib, he had to find out who was foolish enough to speak behind his back so lightly. Zim attentively thought through the possible suspects, but then Zim had concluded that it was probably that fool Mr. Elliot, oh who was he kidding, of course it was Mr. Elliot that blonde-haired fool always complains about stuff like that, god he was such a pain to deal with!

“It was Mr. Elliot was it?!” Dib’s stomach instantly dropped when Zim mentioned the man. Oh god not this again, the last thing he needed was Mr. Elliot talking to him again that day. So Dib was quick to answer. “No, it wasn’t him, I was just-”

“Who said it then?!” Zim screamed back not even letting the man finish his sentence. Dib just took a breath and tried to repeat himself once again. “Zim I was-”

“Who!” Zim screamed again as he thought Dib was talking too long to respond.

If it wasn’t Mr. Elliot then maybe it could have possibly been Ms. Bitters? Zim had made a habit of screaming at her, but she never seemed to mind that, well she never said anything. Who cares, Zim just needs to know who, he looked at Dib and asked in a demanding tone as he dramatically raised his fist that could be described as something out of a theatre play. “Who has talked behind the back of Zim! Tell me!”

Dib sighed. “I-”

“Tell me!” Zim loudly demanded cutting Dib off mid-sentence. Dib ignored the rude interruption from Zim and tried to explain himself again. “I was-” only to immediately get interrupted again by Zim who had managed to get even louder this time.

“Tell me!!!”

“Zim I was joking, I just thought it would be a good way to try and talk about some of the problems you’ve been having.” It seems that was enough to slightly calm Zim down as he the boy’s once enraged expression had slowly changed to one that was a mix of annoyance embarrassment no doubt someone would have heard his yelling from the halls, and thought this was a good start Dib could tell that Zim was still clearly a good bit upset. Both with his attempt at a joke and with the mention of his problems. 

“Don’t try to tell me these stupid jokes, your bad at it.” Zim warned his eyes shifting to the window, the last thing that he wanted was to look at that big-headed fool.

“That’s too bad, I thought I could have started a stand-up routine.” Dib joked again despite the clear warning from Zim who had shifted his attention away from the outside and was now staring daggers at the man who had instantly regretted his attempt to lighten the mood. It was like sidestepping a small pothole in the ground only to stumble and immediately fall off a cliff.

Once Dib realized that Zim wasn’t in the mood right now he was quick to apologize for his poorly thought ‘joke, “Sorry, I’ll stop.” Christ, it was almost like he was picking up after Mr. Elliot for a second.

“You better.” Zim stated in a low grumble. Zim had wanted to go for a more threatening tone in that warning, but for some reason, it came off as half-assed. This whole meeting was just… draining, it was like just being in the office itself was sucking the life out of Zim, like how a fat leach would do to its prey.

“What else do you want to ask Zim?” Zim asked with a huff.

While Dib knew that his answer wouldn’t fare well with Zim he knew that the issue needed to be addressed, so he answered. “Well, I would really like to address the yelling.” and just like clockwork Zim immediately rose from his seat and screamed as loud as he could. “I DON’T-” But almost immediately after Zim had started his rant, it clicked with him that he was just proving the man right.

And without even uttering another word Zim shamefully sat back down in his seat with an expression of pure humility. But despite his embarrassment, Zim could help but try to deny the accusation even though by this point he knew it was true. “… I don’t yell.” He spoke in a quiet more defensive tone.

Dib had tried to offer the boy some slight reassurance, he knew it wasn’t easy for people to talk about the issues that they face, he was the same as Zim, maybe even worse when he was a kid.

But before he could even offer his support a frustrated groan escaped Zim, and he just gave in and quickly blurted out. “Okay fine! maybe Zim yells sometimes, but that’s only because every one of those smelly pigs keeps on annoying me, so it’s their fault that Zim yells!” it was a poor excuse, but it was the only thing Zim could think of at the time. And while it may not seem like it, there was a small tinge of truth behind that statement.

“Zim, yelling at people isn’t the right response when they annoy you, I mean, how would you feel if people started yelling at you if you annoyed them?” Dib was calm and sympathetic to Zim and his struggles, he knew that Zim was going through some hard times. Even if Zim refused to give him any details.

Zim just responded with a dismissive scoff. “That’s what everyone does when they’re annoyed at Zim. Why is it only bad when Zim does it?”

“The same goes for everyone Zim, they shouldn’t yell at others just like you and me.” Zim just slouched back in his seat as he began to toy with the strings of his hoodie since now he found this to be more important than the person sitting directly in front of him.

While Zim continued to play with the small piece of string Dib continued to speak his point. “How about next time if someone annoys you, you just walk away and try to avoid them.” That suggestion only frustrated Zim and he now began to play a bit more rough with the small bit of string. 

“I can’t.” Zim responded as he gave the string another rough tug. 

“Why not?” Dib asked, seemingly not noticing Zim’s increasing anger.

“Because I can’t! They wouldn’t let Zim leave, and if I’d try they’d just get angry!” Zim screamed in frustration as he slammed his fist down on his chair.

Despite the outburst from Zim, Dib still remained calm if a little bit more pressing for answers. “Who, you’re classmates?”

“No, it’s… someone else.” Zim stated in defeat as he sat back on his chair. That was all he could say, Zim fully well knew that he couldn’t give the man a proper answer, he didn’t want to, he shouldn’t have too. If Zim wanted to keep this to himself then he should have the right to keep it to himself if he chooses to, right?

Nonetheless, the still prying adult sitting in front of Zim seemed to think differently about this, he just wouldn’t let it go, he can never let anything go it was so… irritating! Zim didn’t mind these meetings, quite the opposite, he found them to be somewhat enjoyable on the odd occasion. But whenever Dib would mention his supposed ‘problems’ in class, then Zim’s mood would immediately plummet. 

And Dib still continued to press on. “Who?” This was far more than Dib ever thought he’d get from Zim, he just needed a simple answer. Who were these people that Zim was talking about? Were they bullies? Were they his friends?

“Zim, I understand that you may not be comfortable talking about this, but can I ask you just one more question?”

“I…”

Zim slightly shuffled around in his seat, it was a clear sign of his unease. “Can we just move on… please.” Dib looked down at the few notes that he had just jotted down, he tried to connect these few pieces of information but it wasn’t working. Dib had the pieces there but he just needed a few more details to help him see the full picture. He was on the verge of a breakthrough here.

Zim hadn’t told him anything like this before, even when Zim had accidentally slipped up and told the man more than he wanted he still made sure to keep the amount of information revealed was only a small amount. But maybe if Dib just asked one more question he could get a response… No, he can’t force Zim to talk, he needed to be patient and let Zim talk when he was ready. 

And even though the voice in the back of Dib’s head still pestered him to press on for an answer, he flipped over the notebook and placed it away in his desk drew. “Okay, we can move on for now. But, we’ll need to discuss a few things about your behavior in class.” Zim rolled his eyes at the man, he didn’t want to talk about any of this stuff with him. But Zim wasn’t in the mood for an argument today, so he reluctantly agreed with the man for now.

“Fine,” Zim spoke in a hushed tone that just made Dib deeply regret his decision to pressure Zim to talk a bit more about his problems. But thankfully it appeared that Zim was able to bounce back as if their previous conversation hadn’t even occurred because in a matter of seconds the young boy was seated in a more relaxed position and his expression was relaxed a one. 

“What other questions do you want to ask the mighty Zim?” That tone was much more fitting for Zim, and it appeared like his mood was slowly returning to a more relaxed one.

Even though Dib still wasn’t thrilled to be moving the discussion from Zim’s yelling, the man had to admit that just having a casual conversation with Zim was more preferred. It was always a pleasure to talk with Zim about his favorite books or films, and even just the random events that he seems to constantly get himself into 

So, Dib asked. “How’s your week been?”

“My week?” Zim responded with a mix of both confusion and… curiosity. 

“Yeah, has it been good so far?” This was… strange, why was Dib-stink asking about that? Usually, the man would ask some kind of stupid question that would no doubt irritate Zim, but for some unexplainable reason, the man’s questions seemed to get a little less annoying than usual.

“My week has been…” As Zim began to answer his question he soon fell deep within his thoughts as he tried to think of the right response.

How has his week been really? Sure it wasn’t terrible, far from it, he had gotten his hands on a good book from the store a few days ago, all of his work for skool had been pathetically easy, and he’s been left alone by almost everyone in his class, say for the few who would throw a random insult at him, but that wasn’t even close enough to ruin his week by far.

So Zim’s week had been pretty good, but he felt as though something was missing, Zim couldn’t quite put his finger on it, it just felt like he had forgotten something. But then he finally remembered, his task, he had completely forgotten about his task! 

Zim’s eyes almost doubled in size once he remembered the task Dib had given him last week. Wait, was that why Dib asked about his week? Was this some kind of trick question? Dib secretly asking about his progress on the task, that had to be it. But despite Zim’s paranoid thoughts almost driving him to complete madness he was able to push all of that back for just a moment to respond to Dib’s question. “My week has been… decent.”

“That’s good to hear.” Dib said with a warm smile, that had undoubtedly helped to put Zim’s mind at ease, but it didn’t fully rid Zim of his paranoid thoughts. Sure it was good that Dib hadn’t mentioned Zim’s progress on his task just yet, but he only knew that it was a matter of time before the topic would be brought up, Zim needed to think of something to say, maybe he could try to move the discussion away from his lack of progress on his task.

“Um… how has your week been?” Dib was definitely caught off guard by that, he wasn’t really sure how he should ever answer that question. “Oh, um… I’m not sure, I guess it’s been busy.” 

Zim peered at the man curiously before he questioned him. “Busy?” 

“Yeah, just a lot of work here and back home especially.” Well, he certainly wasn’t wrong, with the sheer number of papers and unopened envelopes still sitting on his desk it was obvious that the man had some work to do. 

“But other than those few things my week’s been decent so far.”

Zim let out a sigh of relief, good, no mention of his task. He was in the clear for now, Dib didn’t seem to be focusing on the task right now, that was good, maybe now Zim could try to calm down and start to wrap his head around on accomplishing this task, not that he truly cared about, he was just… concerned. The last thing that Zim wanted was for Dib to think he was lazy, which he wasn’t.

Okay so what else could Zim bring up? Maybe more questions about Dib’s family? No, he already knew enough about that, no point in asking for more information that he didn’t want or need. However, before Zim could think of another question he was pulled out of his thoughts by Dib.

“Well, I guess that’s it for today.” Dib explained to Zim who was completely taken aback by just how fast the time had passed, Zim’s lack of attention towards the passage of time was begging to become a bit of a bad habit. 

However, Zim quickly moved past his surprise of the time and responded to Dib who was now completely preoccupied with the piles of papers left on his cluttered mess of a desk. “O-Oh, I see… well thank goodness, I didn’t think I’d be able to survive another one of your irritating questions.” Zim started as he jumped off his seat with a huff. 

“So I’m guessing you want to cancel our next meeting then?” Dib teased with a cocky tone while still keeping his gaze on the forms in front of him. Zim simply laughed in response to the man’s joke. “Ha! Don’t think you can get away that easy Dib-stink, I still have many questions for you, so many questions I need to have answered!”

While Dib flipped through the pile of forms in his hands he cracked a faint smile that was mostly obscured from Zim. “Good, I’ll be happy to answer them in our next meeting.”

Zim just responded with a half-hearted wave as he made his way towards the door, now that his meeting over Zim could begin to focus his time on completing Dib’s task, sure he may have had a few setbacks here and there, but now that Zim 

And of course, Dib-stink was there to instantly trample on Zim’s good mood. “Well, I’ll see you next week Zim.” that seemingly innocent sentence brought the young child to a complete stop with his gloved hand only inches away from the doorknob. 

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Zim asked now facing the man who still hadn’t moved his gaze from the paper in his hands.

Dib looked over at Zim for a brief moment before he brought his attention back to his work. “Our next meeting is Monday, today’s Friday.” Wait! Friday, Zim almost broke out into a full scream when he heard what Dib had just said. How on earth was it Friday already? Had that much time passed by that fast? Zim hadn’t even noticed it, how was that even possible? The young boy was in a mad panic as he tried to reassure himself, maybe Dib was just mistaken, it wasn’t really Friday, yeah that had to be it… right?

Who was he kidding, of course, Dib wasn’t mistaken, Zim knew today was Friday. He just didn’t want to admit it.

Zim internally screamed he was so screwed! There was no way Zim would be able to complete his task now, there wasn’t enough time for him in the day to work with, and he couldn’t attempt to work on this task during the weekend. What was he going to do now?

No, this is fine, Zim has been left with far worse situations than this. This was still somewhat fixable… maybe. But the first thing that Zim needed to do was get back to class, and more importantly, he needed to leave Dib-stinks office. 

The last thing that Zim needed was Dib seeing that he was caught off guard. “Um y-yes, of course, Zim already knew this fact.” Thank goodness Dib was still distracted by the seemingly endless stacks of documents and forms left strewn on his desk, thank god the man was easily distracted. But Zim wasn’t going to sit around and wait for Dib to eventually notice his current state.

So Zim quickly made his exit. And just before Zim left he called out. “I shall see you Monday Dib-stink!”

“Oh Zim, I-” But Zim had already left his office closing the door behind him. Dib let out a brief chuckle as his gaze shifted back to the messy pile of documents on his desk, a sigh escaped his throat. “Oh well, I can just ask him next week.”

And so with that said Dib brought back his attention to his work.

Authors note 

Hey, I know that this is the first time that I've ever done a not like this, but I wanted to show you all a little side project that I've done for this story.

These are both the designs that I intend to use to represent both Dib and Zim in this fic, I took a lot of inspiration from both the show and other artist.

I'm hoping to somehow add a few pieces of art to the chapters to help give the reader a more detailed picture, kind of like how a visural novel works, if you get what I mean.

Anyway thanks for reading this chapter and I'll see you all next time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This particular chapter has taken me quite the time to finishes, and I want to say that the next chapter will be finished soon but I can't.
> 
> I can't give a proper time when the next chapter will be out, but now that I've posted this work I can say that I'm a hundred present sure that I will complete this story no matter what. So if anyone is worried that I might abandon this story don't worry, I won't let that happen.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that this first part turned out okay, I’m trying to change a few things about the characters to help fit them into this universe.
> 
> But if you have any suggestions for improving how the characters should act then don’t be afraid to say it.


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